Last week, I attended a Hollyoaks press event in London, where members of the media were lucky enough to mingle with the cast and enjoy a sneak preview of what's to come for Channel 4's flagship soap.
With glasses of bubbly and other refreshments readily available, everyone received a warm welcome from the drama's team - before the event began in earnest when series producer Paul Marquess gave a speech reflecting on the period of rejuvenation that he's been heading up at Hollyoaks since his arrival in January.
From Paul's speech, it's clear that everyone involved in the programme is excited and extremely proud of the changes that have been rolled out in recent months - from the new titles, glamorous new signings and compelling new plotlines which have received a largely positive response from fans.
It wasn't all talk, though, as we were then treated to three clip reels which provided a glimpse of forthcoming storylines on Hollyoaks and its late-night spinoff Hollyoaks Later, which returns on October 25.
As for what I can reveal from the clips that we saw, the first thing that I was excited to see is that Carmel's threat to report Theresa to the police once the baby is born definitely hasn't been forgotten! Fans had already been promised that this storyline hadn't been abandoned, but it was great to see the clips to prove it - especially as the episode which saw Carmel discover the truth was one of the best this year.
The footage screened showed Theresa giving birth and the subsequent panic for the McQueens as they realised that Carmel's vow was deadly serious. But will Theresa be heading to jail for shooting Calvin? All I can say is that there looks to be more than a few twists and turns ahead for this storyline...
The other major clips that we saw offered a small glimpse of the November fire plot - which looked pretty spectacular, I have to say! A number of characters will find themselves in danger during this special week of episodes, but I was particularly struck by one scene which featured an emotional 'heart in mouth' moment as a much-loved character was trapped in the flames, seemingly with no way out…
For Hollyoaks Later, the clips that were screened mainly focused on Michael Bisping's bad boy character Nathan, who was busy waving a baseball bat around and threatening to use it to break the Costello brothers' legs! Other sneak peeks showed Mitzeee teaching Nancy and Theresa about the joys of chasing a footballer, and Bart and Jasmine's story reaching a climax as Jasmine struggles to keep her secret under wraps…
Meanwhile, it was also confirmed that this year's Later will focus on the events of "one fateful night" and seamlessly interweave with the main 6.30pm episodes.
Once Hollyoaks Later and the November stunt are out of the way, it sounds as if the next major plotline will be the previously-announced murder which is to rock the village towards the end of the year. Paul Marquess promised that it will be "the scariest murder story the programme has ever told".
December also sees Channel 4 broadcasting a one-off late-night Hollyoaks bubble episode, but details of what we can expect from that have yet to be confirmed.
While at the event, I managed to grab chats with Kieron Richardson (Ste) and Rachel Shenton (Mitzeee), so keep an eye out for those appearing on the site in the coming days.
In the meantime, more teasers for the next few months of Hollyoaks appear below:
§ A member of Jasmine's family will discover her secret, before the storyline reaches a surprising climax at Christmas…
§ Mitzeee starts pursuing Carl again - but this time she's being spurred on by someone else who wants revenge against him…
§ There's more comedy on the way from Lee Hunter as he forms his own boy band called 'Guy Candy'!
§ A long-standing character will find themselves becoming the prime suspect as the police investigate the fire at Il Gnosh…
§ Mercedes will be at the centre of a shock new love triangle that's bound to end in tears…
§ Life in the O'Connor household looks set to be rocked again when Sinead thinks she has made a sickening discovery about her dad Rob…
§ Someone gets stabbed…
§ And moving into the New Year, a shock arrival will change life for the McQueens forever…