Dave Colburn

Dave Colburn
Elliot James Langridge as Dave Colburn (2010)
Hollyoaks character
Portrayed by	Elliot James Langridge
Duration	2009–2010
First appearance	30 June 2009
Last appearance	27 August 2010
Introduced by	Lucy Allan
Spin-off appearances	Hollyoaks: The Morning After the Night Before (2009) Hollyoaks: Freshers (2010)
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Occupation	Student (until 2010)
Home	Manchester (until 2009) Halls of Residence (2009–2010)

David "Dave" Colburn is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Elliot James Langridge. He first appeared in Hollyoaks online spin-off, Hollyoaks: The Morning After the Night Before, which explored the dangers of binge drinking. After this, Dave made a regular appearance in Hollyoaks as a new student at Hollyoaks Community College. Dave left the teen soap in late 2010 after the character was axed in March 2010.

Elliot James Langridge was cast as Dave after being turned down for a minor role on Hollyoaks. Langridge stated: "I [originally] auditioned for a very small part and I didn't get it. Then I got a call back to say that they wanted me to play this other lead role and so I didn't even have to audition [again]. I was very lucky."

Dave first appeared in one episode of Hollyoaks before appearing in web-based spin-off, Hollyoaks: The Morning After the Night Before. Due to the launch of the series, three social networking website groups were created on Bebo for Dave, Josh Ashworth and Sasha Valentine. These Bebo pages were regularly updated during the broadcast of The Morning After the Night Before. After his initial appearance, it was announced Dave would return to the main Hollyoaks show.

In early 2010, it was announced that Allan had stepped down from the position of executive producer and that Paul Marquess had taken over the role. It was soon revealed that Marquess planned to give Hollyoaks a "shake up", changing the productions team and beginning a cast cull by axing three established characters. Stephanie Waring (who plays Cindy Hutchinson) then revealed that all remaining cast members feared their character would be axed. One month later, Marquess announced his plans to axe a further 11 characters, including Dave at the end of Langridge's contract.

Dave departed the main Hollyoaks series on the 27 of August, but continued to appear on the online spin-off Hollyoaks: Freshers in an exit that was described on the serial's official website as paying homage to his debut in which he first appeared in an on-line spin off of Hollyoaks.