Anna (Saskia Wickham)

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Hollyoaks producers have cast the role of the Savage family's mum.

Former Peak Practice actress Saskia Wickham will play Anna, mum of Dodger, Will, Liberty and Sienna Blake.

She tells her children how Patrick Blake was abusive until she fled with Dodger, leaving his twin Sienna behind. He denies the accusations.

An insider told the Daily Star Sunday: "Anna has a lot of questions to answer. Her children are going to struggle with her reasons for leaving."

Anna will arrive in the Channel 4 soap next month.

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Hollyoaks twins Dodger Savage and Sienna Blake are in for a massive shock when they discover their mum tried to kill them Anna Blake - played by Peak Practice actress Saskia Wickham - will slip unnoticed into Chester next month when she poses as Will Savage’s home help. Troubled Will has no idea she’s his mum, but that’s not the only shock in store.
We can reveal that as her real identity comes spilling out it’s followed by the bombshell news that Anna tried to commit suicide and kill twins Dodger and Sienna at the same time The news sparks chaos within the Savage clan as the kids try to come to terms with what they have been told. But it soon becomes apparent that there are more secrets and lies to come from their unstable parents Anna and Patrick. A show insider said: “All is not what it seems“Things don’t quite add up where Patrick is concerned but Anna has been in a mental institute so her judgement will be called into question.“There are accusations being fired all over the place but the question is, who should everyone believe?”

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[lizann]

maybe she kills texas

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Hollyoaks airs a huge set of episodes for Anna Savage next week as she decides that she needs to kill her ex-partner Patrick Blake.

Knowing what Patrick (Jeremy Sheffield) is capable of, an unstable Anna plans the drastic action as she doesn't want him to ruin any more lives. However, her efforts backfire badly when she finds herself in the frame for Texas's murder…

Digital Spy recently caught up with Saskia Wickham, who plays Anna, for her thoughts on the dark storyline and what's to come.

How are you finding your time as part of the Hollyoaks cast?
"I'm absolutely loving it. It's the easiest question to answer, because it's one of the nicest jobs that I've done - and I'm really old so I've done loads! (Laughs.) It's just the most super place to work and how much I've enjoyed it has actually quite surprised me.

"Sometimes you think it's just going to be a job, but I've really been struck by the dedication of the Hollyoaks team and how special they want to make the show. It's great working in that environment."

Has the role of Anna been a challenge?
"I always hope that every role I take on will be a challenge, because it makes it more exciting and interesting. I'd say this one is particularly challenging because of the character's history and her problems, which have been fascinating to play."

Because Anna has so many problems, did you have to do any research for the role?
"Yes, I did quite a lot of research actually. It was mostly to do with Anna's backstory, because when Dodger and Sienna were born, she had a terrible form of post-natal depression where you're so terrified for your children that you try to kill them. That's a recognised medical condition, so I did a lot of research into that. There have actually been a couple of cases recently in London where that's happened, and it's so tragic.

"Although it wasn't to the same degree, I also suffered from postnatal depression myself so I knew about that anyway. It's more difficult to research what happened to Anna after that, because in real life I don't know anybody who's had to be locked away in a mental institute. But as an actor, you just have to imagine yourself in that situation and then try to play the reality of it."

In the episodes coming up, Anna starts to suspect that Patrick killed Texas. What's going through her mind?
"Anna thinks that Patrick is absolutely capable of anything, but her suspicions really begin when Dirk pays her a visit and explains how Patrick gave Dodger an alibi for the murder. She starts to think that maybe Patrick could have done it.

"I think there's also a sense that Anna just blames Patrick for everything in general, because when it comes to everything that's gone wrong in her life, he is to blame! Her first instinct is that Patrick is responsible when things go wrong, because he usually has been!"

What happens next?
"Anna escapes from the mental institute where she's been placed by Patrick. Her impetus at that point is that she really needs to do something. She thinks that Patrick murdered Texas, he's out of control and she needs to do something about it. However, I don't think she's decided at that point that she needs to take the drastic action that she ends up taking.

"Anna spies on Patrick for a little while before she approaches him, and she sees a glimpse of him and Maxine where he's starting to show some of the behaviour that he did towards her when they were a couple. She's worried that he's doing the same thing all over again…"

How does the hostage situation in the flat come about?
"Anna goes to confront Patrick, but he just laughs at her. That's when she says, 'You'll never stop until somebody stops you'. She realises that it has to be her who takes that step, so a switch flips for her at that point. Anna was always going to do something, but that's when she decides to take drastic action.

"You'll see that Anna goes back to the flat, she breaks in and turns on the gas. When Patrick comes home, she knocks him unconscious and when he's coming round, she also drugs him. It's payback in a way, as Patrick had been giving her drugs over the years to make her madder than she already was. Anna then stands there with a box of matches and says that she's going to kill them both, because she needs to protect the world from Patrick."

What happens when Sienna comes into the room?
"It's a terrible moment for Anna. She's made the decision not just to kill Patrick but also to kill herself, so you can just imagine her turmoil when Sienna comes into the room. The hardest part for me to play was that Anna then makes the decision to go ahead with what she's doing. She does give Sienna the chance to leave and get to safety, but Sienna loves her father and she won't leave him.

"In Anna's mind, she feels that Patrick is so evil and she'll never get another chance to kill him. She also thinks that Patrick is such a bad person that Sienna would be better off dead than living with him."

What was it like to film such heavy scenes?
"It was very draining! Most of the stuff in the flat we filmed in one day, and we were all very tired afterwards. It's mentally very exhausting, because you're taking yourself to a place where you wouldn't ever want to be in real life.

"We also have to film multiple takes while keeping the same level of performance. On screen it's over in a few minutes, but we have to do it quite a few times. It is exhausting, but still fun!"

Why does Anna later take the blame for Texas's murder?
"Patrick starts telling the police that Anna did it, which is a big shock for her. She wonders how on earth they could even think that. Very quickly after that, Will confesses to Anna that he's the real killer. There isn't a scene where he tells her what happened in detail, but in my mind, he's told her that it was an accident.

"I actually discussed this with James Atherton, who plays Will, the other day. He agreed that Will thinks it was an accident. Will doesn't see himself as a mad, psychopathic killer or anything! He lost his temper in a really terrible way, but it wasn't premeditated.

"Anna makes the decision to cover for Will because she thinks that her life is over either way. She's back in the mental institute and she won't be getting out anytime soon, while for Will, there's the possibility that he could have a life. Anna also feels guilty for not being around for Will when he was growing up, so it's a chance to redeem herself."

How does Patrick feel about what's happened?
"It's interesting, because this actually gives Anna a bit of power over Patrick. He can't understand why she's confessed. There's a great moment where Anna says to him, 'You just don't have a clue, do you? You don't know why I'm doing this'. That makes her feel fantastically strong for the first time in many, many years."

Will we see Anna again?
"It's Hollyoaks, so anything can happen! I know that I'm coming back to do some more scenes, but what they are, I don't know as I haven't got the scripts yet!"

We want Patrick to get his comeuppance at some point! Would you like Anna to be involved and get her revenge?
"It would be heaven! Also, I love doing scenes with Jeremy as he's such a great guy to work with and he does such a great job playing Patrick. Perhaps you should write to the scriptwriters and suggest it!"

Which scenes have been your favourites to film?
"All the hostage scenes in the flat were amazing to film, but I haven't seen them for myself yet so I don't know how it'll come across on screen! But I've never had material like that to film before and I loved the opportunity. It was very physical too, because I had to smash a vase over Patrick's head and things like that!"

What are the cast like to work with in general?
"I've made some really good friends among the cast. Jeremy was actually round at mine for dinner on Saturday, as was Elliot [Balchin] who played Kevin. My lovely on-screen son James also came to visit me last week as he was on a visit to London. I feel very much like they're another family now. They're so lovely and whenever I'm up in Liverpool, they'll take me out to dinner.

"Also, on Valentine's Day, both James and Danny Mac invited me round for dinner because they didn't want me to be on my own in my hotel room! How sweet is that?"

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