Will Hollywould soap save Kent TV?

KENT TV – the county council's controversial £600,000-a-year web TV station – is fighting for its life.

After a two-year pilot that technically ended in August, bosses at Bob Geldof's Ten Alps Digital media company are waiting to see if it will be axed.

Council chiefs have already given it a six-month extension until March but its future is likely to be announced in December.

Kent chief executive Peter Gilroy and council leader Paul Carter have yet to decide if they will continue spending public money on the experiment in these days of economic cut-backs.

Even if they do, rival operators waiting in the wings have already begun tendering for the lucrative contract.

However, Kent TV led by Whitstable journalist John McGhie, is refusing to go without a battle.

Tonight, Wednesday, it launches its latest weapon in the online ratings wars, a £20,000 interactive 10-part five-minute teenage soap opera called Hollywould....

It stars Faversham actress Helen Renny as fresh-faced university student Holly, who is lured into strange goings on, and features a guest performance from Whitstable actor-turned teacher Jim Madden.

The series has been penned by EastEnders' scriptwriter Julie Wassmer from Whitstable who plays a cameo role as Holly's mum.

Viewers can vote on how the following week's episode turns out. Different versions have already been filmed.

Jim, 60, who lives at the bottom of Borstal Hill, and teaches at Clarendon Girls Grammar School, Ramsgate, plays the sinister university course tutor John Roper.

He said: "I have no idea how it will finish but everyone seems to think I am the baddie. We will just have to wait and see."

Managing editor Mr McGhie said: "It's a radical new departure for drama. We are extremely proud to be doing it right here in Kent. Julie has done a fantastic job creating a gripping script."

At a preview screening at The Maidstone Studios where Kent TV is based, he stressed: "We have turned Hollywould around in an incredible four months and it has not cost very much either. It has cost £20,000. I know people in London who would not get out of bed for that."

He added: "We have always seen our job as informing the people of Kent about what is going on in their own backyard. We are very proud that over the past two years we have put together more than 2,000 films, which is pretty impressive."

Much of Hollywould was shot in and around Canterbury.

Running alongside it on the website are specially-made companion films dealing with issues raised in the soap such as cyber-dating, the dangers of spiked drinks and sexually transmitted diseases.

Mr McGhie said: "We want to reach out to young people with this drama. Not only will it give them something Kent-based to enjoy but we have also put some very light-touch messaging in there on issues like sexual health and student safety that will genuinely help young people – especially those who have left home for the first time."

To view Hollywould... visit www.kenttv.com/hollywould

The crew

Written by EastEnders' and London's Burning scriptwriter Julie Wassmer of Whitstable.

Directed by Simon Welsford from Margate who has won awards from his film Jetsam at the London Independent Film Festival.

University of Kent students Lisa Ellis, George Weightman and Luke Bailey play the mysterious fun-loving Marta, the extrovert Alex and shy computer nerd Danny