Zak Ramsey

The character of Zak was created as one of three new characters written into the series. These consisted of Zak, Stuart Harding (Dan Cryer) and Bella Manning (Kim Bourelle) and are new students who move in to the halls of residence at the Hollyoaks Community College. He was originally described by Hollyoaks' publicity team as "footie-mad" and "a Scouser with attitude and more than an eye for the ladies!"[2] After the character's initial stint, he was brought back into the series. During the character's first stint he was credited as Zak Barnes.[3] When he was reintroduced into the series in 2006, his surname had been changed to Ramsey.[4] A separate family with the surname Barnes was introduced during the intervening period of Zak's on-screen absence.

An excerpt from the official Hollyoaks website detailed how Zak was not interested in studying during his first year at college. The writer added "Zak's determined to spend as much time polishing his student credentials and as little honing his academic skills as he can."[3] Channel 4 publicity described him as a "fun-loving" man who likes 'a good knees-up' with his friends. They also detailed how he looks after his sister, Hayley Ramsey's (Kelly-Marie Stewart) love life, alluding to Zak being protective of his sister.[4] Zak has always been unlucky in his love life, even though he Riley described him as "has his eye on most of the ladies" featured in the show.[4][1]

When Zak was reintroduced, writers featured him in the student group consisting of Jessica Harris (Jennifer Biddall), Will Hackett (Oliver Farnworth), Zoë Carpenter (Zoe Lister) and Kris Fisher (Gerard McCarthy).[5]

Hollie-Jay Bowes plays Zak's main love interest, Michaela McQueen

In late 2008, writers invested more in the character romantic and family stories to play out during the following year. They created Zak's relationship with Michaela McQueen (Hollie-Jay Bowes) and introduced his sister, Hayley. Her arrival created added drama in his stories with Michaela.[6] Both Zak and Michaela are portrayed as embarrassed about their relationship. Riley told an Inside Soap reporter that they "really like each other" but "I don't think either of them knows why!"[7] Riley believed that Zak was more embarrassed than Michaela which is why he hides their relationship from friends. He added that an argument between the two results in them declaring their love for each other. This worried Riley, who was unsure that Zak could truly commit to Michaela. He added knew "I'm not sure he knows the meaning of the word love."[7]

When Hayley arrives, Michaela presumes that she is a new love rival and this begins their relationship woes.[6] Hayley, is a disabled character who has Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which Stewart who plays her also diagnosed with. The story explored Zak and Hayley's backstory and how Zak struggles to cope with her illness. Stewart told Tina Miles from Liverpool Echo that "before Hayley's illness, she had a great relationship with her brother Zak, but now he finds it difficult to relate to her and cannot see past her disability."[8] They story explores the issues of a family member being unable to accept their relative's new disability. Riley added that Zak and Hayley used to have a close relationship. This confuses his friends because Zak never mentioned Hayley. Riley explained that "Hayley's arrival has a huge impact on Zak, because he's forced to explain why he's never mentioned having a sister."[7] Riley concluded that Zak never came to terms with Hayley's disability.[7] Riley revealed that the story also placed his character between two feisty females as Michaela and Hayley struggle to get along. He added that they "don't get along from the moment they meet, they've certainly got feisty outlooks on life!"[7]

In March 2009, Riley revealed that he was contracted to Hollyoaks until December that year. He announced that writers were planning a "really strong storyline" for his character.[9] The story begins when Zak and his friends Kris, Elliot Bevan (Garnon Davies) and Archie Carpenter (Stephen Beard) find £100,000 in cash and decide to keep it for themselves.[10] The story allowed for a topical aspect involving localised discrimination. Zak is portrayed as a Scouser / Liverpudlian and when money goes missing, Archie automatically presumes Zak must have stolen it due to his Scouse identity. Beard told an Inside Soap reporter that Archie is "quite un-PC in his thinking, because Zak's a Scouser, there's no doubt in Archie's mind that he took the cash."[10] Beard added that Archie's accusations causes a fight between the friends as Zak is forced to defend his background. Elliot later admits he took the money to help his girlfriend Leila Roy (Lena Kaur).[10]

In January 2010, Lucy Allan left the position of executive producer, with Paul Marquess taking over the role.[11] Marquess planned to revamp Hollyoaks, changing the show's production team and implemented cast changes, immediately writing out three established characters.[12][13] By the following month, Marquess had decided to remove a further eleven characters from the series, including Zak who would leave at the end of Riley's contract.[14] Marquess told Liverpool Echo's Miles that his decision to write the characters out was because they had ran out of stories for them. He noted that Zak "had been a student for a long time."[15] The previous year, Riley expressed his interest in Zak being killed off, if he was to leave the show.[16] Despite this, Marquess chose an insignificant exit as it was stated that the character would simply move on to pastures new at the end of his storyline-arc.[14]

Of his departure, Riley told Kris Green from Digital Spy that he was "a little bit sad" to be leaving. He explained that "in terms of the character, it's sad because he's much-loved but personally, it's a good time for me to move on to... different things... There are a few auditions coming up, so we'll just have to wait and see."[17] Bowes who plays Zak's love-interest Michaela was unhappy with the final stories planned for the couple. She questioned Marquess' plans during a meeting and was dropped from the third series of Hollyoaks Later as punishment. The incident enraged Bowes who quit the show over the incident.[18]

Zak's final stories in his latter months included his involvement in a racism story and his break-up with Michaela. Writers introduced infidelity for Zak as he sleeps with Laura (Laura Ainsworth).[19] The plot coincided with Zak's alcoholism story arch in the aftermath of Caleb's death. Charlotte Lau (Amy Yamazaki) shocks Zak by revealing she knows about their affair and could tell Michaela.[20] Zak's friend Des Townsend (Kris Deedigan) convinces Zak to be honest with Michaela but she discovers his infidelity prior and break-up with him.[19]

Writers introduced Zak into a racism story which involved his affiliation with Des. The latter decides to target ethnic minorities living in the village because of their background and race. With Michaela's help, Zak decides to expose Des' racist attacks. He begins by ensuring Des' girlfriend Jacqui McQueen (Claire Cooper) knows first.[21] Cooper told an Inside Soap that Zak and Michaela obtain a video detailing all of Des' crimes. Zak reveals details of Des' plan to target Jacqui's sister Carmel McQueen (Gemma Merna) for marrying Calvin Valentine (Ricky Whittle), who is black. Jacqui responds by publicly humiliating Des and hitting him.[21]