Hollyoaks is a British television soap opera that was first broadcast on 23 October 1995. The following is a list of characters that appeared or will appear in the serial in 2017, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by executive producer, Bryan Kirkwood. The first character to be introduced was Lily Drinkwell (Lauren McQueen), the niece of Diane Hutchinson (Alex Fletcher). Shane Sweeney (Lanre Malaolu/Michael Salami), the father of Prince McQueen (Malique Thompson-Dwyer) and Hunter McQueen (Theo Graham), was also introduced in January, while Darcy Wilde (Aisling Jarrett-Gavin), the former fiancée of Adam Donovan (Jimmy Essex), and Lynette Drinkwell (Amy Robbins), the adoptive mother of Scott Drinkwell (Ross Adams) and sister of Diane, were introduced in March. Four characters were introduced in April: Yasmine Maalik (Haiesha Mistry), a new teenage character who befriended Peri Lomax (Ruby O'Donnell); Toby Wilde (Lucas Haywood), the secret son of Darcy and Adam; Kyle Kelly (Adam Rickitt), the former boyfriend of Nancy Osborne (Jessica Fox); and Maggie Kinsella (Michelle Holmes), Scott's biological mother. Yasmine's mother, Misbah Maalik (Harvey Virdi), debuted in May. Yasmine's sister, Farrah Maalik (Krupa Pattini), and Milo Entwistle (Nathan Morris) were introduced in June. Granny Campbell (Jenny Lee), Damon Kinsella (Jacob Roberts) and Brody Hudson (Adam Woodward) made their first appearances in July. Glenn Donovan (Neil Roberts) made his debut the following month, while September saw the arrivals of Imran Maalik (Ijaz Rana) and Sami Maalik (Rishi Nair).

Lily McQueen (also Drinkwell), played by Lauren McQueen, made her first appearance on 6 January 2017. The character was announced on 12 December 2016, with further details including McQueen's casting announced on 22 December. Of securing the role, McQueen told Laura Morgan of All About Soap that she met with executive producer Bryan Kirkwood in June 2016 and took part in a reading with one of the cast members. Later that day, her agent rang her to say that she had been offered the role of Lily. She added, "It's brilliant because I live about 15 minutes away from the set. It's the perfect job for me, really."

Shane Sweeney, played by Lanre Malaolu, made his first appearance on 30 January 2017. The character and casting was announced on 9 January 2017. Shane is Prince (Malique Thompson-Dwyer) and Hunter McQueen's (Theo Graham) father, as well as Goldie McQueen's (Chelsee Healey) former partner. Shane comes to the village after being released from jail, and wants to reconcile with Goldie. Malaolu described Shane as a "wheeler-dealer" and "driven by money". He also said that Shane only "loves his family when it suits him." Prince and Hunter will be divided upon their father's return, with Prince welcoming him back, whereas Hunter is more wary and thinks that Shane is potentially scamming the family. Following a decision from Hollyoaks bosses, Shane was promoted to a regular character, but as Malaolu was unavailable, the role was recast to Michael Salami. Salami made his first appearance in the role on 9 May 2017. It was confirmed on 29 March 2018 that Salami would be departing the series, with his final scenes airing in the following day's episode.

Shane revealed to Joel Dexter (Rory Douglas-Speed) that he knew about the drugs which Joel supplied to his aunt, Katy. After blackmailing Joel for a few weeks, Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas) became suspicious of Shane. Later, Shane and Sienna Blake (Anna Passey) faked a kidnapping in an attempt to hurt Warren. After the plan backfired, Shane fled Hollyoaks, once again leaving Goldie, Prince and Hunter behind. Shane held Joel and Cleo McQueen (Nadine Mulkerrin) hostage at a beach. Darren Osborne (Ashley Taylor Dawson) came to the rescue and Joel and Shane had a fight, with the two warring men falling down a sand dune. Joel survived, but Shane went missing, presumed dead. It is later revealed that Shane had a gun in September, after it was unearthed on the beach by Kathy Barnes (Sarah Jane Buckley).

In October 2018, Glenn Donovan (Bob Cryer) is murdered by Goldie's mother Breda McQueen (Moya Brady) and tells the police how he was bullied into confessing to two murders he did not commit, he was later released from prison after making a statement, off-screen. In August 2019, it was revealed that Shane is living with Prince and Hunter and he forgave them for turning their back on him after he told them how he was framed and coerced by Adam and Glenn into admitting two murders he didn't commit

Carmina Celeste McQueen, portrayed by Harlow Jones, is the daughter of Myra McQueen (Nicole Barber-Lane) and Diego Salvador Martinez Hernandez De La Cruz (Juan Pablo Yepez). She is born on-screen in episode 4583, originally broadcast on 15 February 2017. The character departed on 27 March 2019 to tie in with Myra's exit from the serial.

Myra names her Carmina Celeste in memory of her deceased half-sisters Carmel McQueen (Gemma Merna) and Tina Reilly (Leah Hackett) and cousin Celine McQueen (Sarah George). Following her parents' separation, Sally St. Claire (Annie Wallace) agrees to co-parent Carmina with Myra, but Myra's daughter, Mercedes McQueen (Jennifer Metcalfe), intervenes and reunites Myra and Diego.

Darcy Wilde (also credited as Darcy Osborne and Rebecca), played by Aisling Jarrett-Gavin, made her first appearance on 13 March 2017. The character was first mentioned on-screen in November 2016, while Jarrett-Gavin's casting was announced on 3 January 2017. Darcy is Adam Donovan's (Jimmy Essex) ex-fiancée and was presumed dead after she vanished from a boat trip to France. Ahead of her arrival in the village, Adam learns that his brother Liam (Maxim Baldry) "is harbouring a huge secret about her." His other brother Jesse (Luke Jerdy) was infatuated with her, while their mother Tracey Donovan (Lisa Maxwell) and half-sister Grace Black (Tamara Wall) are also hiding a secret about Darcy.