Hollyoaks leads British Soap Award noms

09:24 05 May 2009

Channel 4's teenage soap drama Hollyoaks has landed the most nominations on this year's British Soap Awards shortlist.

The list sees each of the five qualifying soaps (Coronation Street, Doctors, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks) each receive the default three nods in five of the six viewer-voted categories: Sexiest Male, Sexiest Female, Villain of the Year, Best Actor and Best Actress. Also, each show is automatically nominated for Best Soap.

Winners of the remaining 11 awards - including Best Comedy Performance, Best Newcomer, Best Single Episode and Best Storyline - have been determined by a panel of judges.

Hollyoaks featured in nine of the 36 shortlist panel nomination categories, while EastEnders was just behind with eight nods. Coronation Street took seven, while Emmerdale and Doctors settled for six each.

In an unexpected result, Coronation Street failed to receive a nomination in the Best Dramatic Performance category.

Nominations for the Lifetime Achievement and Special Achievement awards are also considered by the panel, although no hints have been given.

The 11th annual British Soap Awards take place at the BBC's Television Centre in central London on Saturday, but will be available to television viewers on Wednesday May 13 on ITV1.