Storylines of Shortland Street (1992)
Encyclopedia
Storylines
The first episode of Shortland Street began with two paramedics, Tom NeilsonTom Neilson
Tom Leslie Neilson is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. Part of the original cast, Tom was portrayed by Adrian Keeling from the shows first episode up until May the following year when the character starred in a high profile storyline where Tom went missing...
(Adrian Keeling) and Sam Aleni
Sam Aleni
Sam Aleni was a fictional character on the TVNZ soap opera Shortland Street. He was portrayed by Rene Naufahu and was part of the original cast.-1992-1993:...
(Rene Naufahu
Rene Naufahu
Rene Naufahu is a New Zealand-born actor, screen writer and director of Tongan and Samoan heritage. He is perhaps best known for being an original cast member of the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, playing paramedic Sam Aleni for the show's first four years...
) rushing a young pregnant teen to the Shortland Street Accident and Emergency Medical Centre. At the same time, Dr Hone Ropata
Hone Ropata
Hone Ropata was a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street and was part of the original cast. He was portrayed by Temuera Morrison who after the role went on to several Hollywood roles...
(Temuera Morrison
Temuera Morrison
Temuera Derek Morrison is a New Zealand-born actor. He has become one of the country's most famous stars for his roles as the abusive Jake "the Muss" Heke in 1994's Once Were Warriors and as bounty hunter Jango Fett and the Clone Troopers in the Star Wars series...
) arrived at Shortland Street fresh from a stint in Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
and carried out a breech delivery on the pregnant teen, rather than the recommended hospital transfer and Caesarean section
Caesarean section
A Caesarean section, is a surgical procedure in which one or more incisions are made through a mother's abdomen and uterus to deliver one or more babies, or, rarely, to remove a dead fetus...
. Hone's unorthodox methods led him to clash with the other members of the staff, particularly Nurse Carrie Burton
Carrie Burton
Carrie Kennedy was a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. She was portrayed by Lisa Crittenden and was part of the original cast.-1992:...
(Lisa Crittenden
Lisa Crittenden
Lisa Crittenden is an Australian actress, noted for her roles in various television series, such as The Restless Years , The Sullivans , Prisoner , Sons and Daughters and the New Zealand produced Shortland Street .She also played a lead role in mini-series Whose Baby? and...
) and Dr Meredith Fleming
Meredith Fleming
Dr. Meredith Fleming was a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. She was portaryed by Stephanie Wilkin. She was part of original cast and the shows first lesbian relationship.-1992-1993:...
(Stephanie Wilkin).
Tom and his wife Marj (Elizabeth McRae
Elizabeth McRae
Elizabeth McRae is a New Zealand actress, best known for her portrayal of Marjorie Brasch on the soap opera Shortland Street from 1992 until 1996 with further appearances in 1998 and 2002.Elizabeth's daughter Katherine is also an actress...
), a receptionist at Shortland Street were horrified when their son Stuart
Stuart Neilson
Stuart Neilson was a fictional character in the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. He was portrayed by Martin Henderson and was part of the original cast, with a lot of the first episode focusing around him....
(Martin Henderson
Martin Henderson
Martin Henderson is a New Zealand actor, well known to American audiences for his starring role in the ABC TV series Off the Map, while remaining known in his home country for his teenage role as Stuart Neilson in the soap opera Shortland Street.-Life and career:Henderson was born in Auckland, New...
) claimed that he was the father of the baby that Hone had delivered. It was quickly revealed that Stuart's eldest brother Darryl
Darryl Neilson
Darryl Neilson is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. Darryl was portrayed by Mark Ferguson from 1992 to the characters death in 1995....
(Mark Ferguson
Mark Ferguson
Mark Ferguson is a New Zealand-based Australian actor and television presenter.-Biography:Ferguson was born in Sydney, Australia, in family of Scottish ancestry . He attended the National Institute of Dramatic Art and graduated in 1981...
) was the real father. Darryl was married and Stuart had befriended his young pregnant mistress when they had broken up. Marj remained unaware that she had a grandchild, though Tom suspected the truth.
The romance of Dr. Chris Warner
Chris Warner
Dr. Christopher "Chris" Warner is a fictional character and current main protagonist on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. He is portrayed by Michael Galvin. He is the only original character to still be on the show....
(Michael Galvin
Michael Galvin
Michael Galvin is a New Zealand actor, singer and playwright, well known for his role as Dr. Chris Warner on the soap opera Shortland Street, a character he has played almost continuously since the shows debut in 1992.-Early life:...
) and Nurse Alison Raynor
Alison Raynor
Alison Raynor was a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. She was portrayed by Danielle Cormack and was part of the series original cast.-Creation and Casting:...
(Danielle Cormack
Danielle Cormack
Danielle Cormack is a stage and screen actress from New Zealand. She was one of the original core cast of the long-running soap opera Shortland Street, though she is also known for her role as the Amazon Ephiny in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess, Cynthia Ross in The Cult, and Shota in...
) was the first of many love stories that have been featured in Shortland Street over the years. Alison was an innocent country girl from Te Kuiti
Te Kuiti
Te Kuiti is a small town in the south of the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the junction of State Highways 3 and 30 and on the North Island Main Trunk Railway, 80 km south of Hamilton....
, Chris on the other hand, was a ladies' man and had garnered the nickname 'Dr Love' by fellow staff members. Chris had also been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, his father was Sir Bruce Warner (Ken Blackburn
Ken Blackburn (actor)
Ken Blackburn, ONZM is a New Zealand actor and writer. He has worked in film, television, radio and theatre in the UK, New Zealand, and Australia since the 1970s....
), a well-respected doctor who had been knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed for his services to medicine. The romance between Chris and Alison quickly hit trouble Nurse Steve Mills
Steve Mills (Character)
Steve Mills was a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. He was portrayed by Andrew Binns and was part of the original core cast....
(Andrew Binns) caught Chris engaged in a steamy romp with gym instructor Jill(Suzy Aiken
Suzy Aiken
Suzanne Elizabeth "Suzy" Clarkson is a New Zealand news presenter at Prime Television.She has appeared in the NZ drama Shortland Street, and produced aerobic workout videos and co-authored the book "Healthy Body Healthy Mind". In the late 1980s and early 90s she appeared on the show "Blind Date"...
).
Meanwhile, Shortland Street's first issue-based storyline occurred when Nurse Jaki Manu
Jaki Manu
Jaki Manu was a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. She was portrayed by Nancy Brunning and was part of the original cast.-1992-1994:...
(Nancy Brunning
Nancy Brunning
Nancy Brunning is an actress and director who has won awards in film and television and has made a major contribution to the growth of Māori in the arts. Her accolades include Best Actress awards on stage and screen. She won Best Actress at the NZ Film Awards for her lead role in the movie What...
) pricked herself with a needle that had been used on an HIV positive patient, Deborah (Lisa Chappell
Lisa Chappell
Lisa Irene Chappell is an actress and musician from Auckland, New Zealand. She is best known for playing Claire McLeod on the Nine Network drama series McLeod's Daughters.-Early life and career:...
). The storyline hinted at the stigma of having the disease as Jaki initially hid her HIV scare from her friends and co-workers, and when they finally learned what was going on, Marj was openly hostile towards her, believing that Jaki was contagious. Jaki's other co-workers, having been trained as medical professionals, were more understanding. They set Marj (and by extension, the viewers) straight about how HIV was transmitted. After many months, Jaki was cleared of the disease.
Shortland Street quickly gained a reputation for being racy, and it quickly seemed to viewers that the characters' favourite pastimes were sleeping with everyone else. For example, when Chris and Alison broke up following his fling with Jill, Chris ended up in bed with a stranger, only to find out that she was Claire, Hone's fiancee. Meredith and Hone, who had had a one-night stand just prior to Claire's arrival, quickly decided to remain friends. Meredith's ten-year-old son Andrew soon turned up and Meredith quickly devoted herself to raising him while Hone had to the deal with the shenanigans of his wayward fiancee, who after sleeping with Chris began sleeping with clinic boss Michael McKenna! (Paul Gittins
Paul Gittins
Paul Gittins is a New Zealand actor who is best known for playing Doctor Michael McKenna in Shortland Street from 1992 to 1995 and 1998 to 1999, and he has also appeared in The End of the Golden Weather, Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, City Life, The Whole of the Moon and...
). Hone eventually dumped Claire after learning of her various affairs with his co-workers.
Shortland Street sought to reflect the growing numbers of single parent families so Michael's secretary Jenny Harrison
Jenny Harrison
Jenny Harrison is a professor of mathematics at UC Berkeley. She specializes in geometric analysis and areas in the intersection of algebra, geometry, and geometric measure theory...
(Maggie Harper) was made a solo mother to her teenaged son Nick
Nick Harrison
Nick Harrison was a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. He was portrayed by Karl Burnett and was the longest running original cast member on the show first appearing in 1992 and running for 13 years until 2005....
(Karl Burnett
Karl Burnett
Karl Burnett is a New Zealand actor born 27 February 1976 best known for his portrayal of Nick Harrison on the long-running New Zealand soap opera, Shortland Street. He was 16 years old when offered the role of Nick Harrison on the popular New Zealand soap Shortland Street in 1992...
). Jenny's ex-husband Barry returned to town late in 1992 and Jenny reconciled with him. However viewers quickly discovered why Jenny had left Barry in the first place when Barry beat Jenny up. Jenny made the decision to kick him out and Jenny told Nick that the real reason why she and Barry had divorced was because Barry had regularly beat her when they were married. Nick and Jenny later fell out when Nick became involved with a punk
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
girl named Serena Hughes (Willa O'Neill
Willa O'Neill
Willa O'Neill is an award-winning actress from New Zealand. She is known to fans of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys for her recurring role as "Althea" and Xena: Warrior Princess fans know her from her repeat role as "Lila."...
).
When Carrie was accused of assisting one of Sam's cousins commit suicide, she was arrested and charged with the crime. Carrie turned to Michael for support and it was revealed that the two had had a prior relationship. Carrie was soon cleared when Sam uncovered the true culprit. Michael and Carrie's relationship didn't last and the two went back to just being friends.
Stuart quickly fell for Kirsty Knight (Angela Dotchin
Angela Dotchin
-External links:...
), who worked at the clinic as a receptionist alongside Marj. However their relationship never really got off the ground. After a friend of Nick and Stuart's committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, Stuart and Kirsty had a one-night stand but Stuart, being a devout Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
, was horrified to have lost his virginity. He broke up with Kirsty and decided to become a priest.
Meanwhile Stuart and Darryl's parents, Tom and Marj, faced several ups and downs. Tom, who was an ambulance driver, developed some sort of sleeping disorder and fell asleep at the wheel and later almost burnt the house down when the heater caught fire while he was asleep. Tom's health problems continued when he was injured in a building collapse.
Andrew continued to cause mischief, but Hone managed to establish a rapport with the boy. Meredith and Hone embarked on a relationship.
Kirsty was heartbroken after Stuart dumped her, and developed a flirtation with Darryl, despite Stuart's warnings that Darryl would only use her and then throw her away. Kirsty refused to listen until one night when Darryl attempted to rape her. Kirsty pressed charges for sexual assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
, but she was forced to drop the charges after Darryl's wife, Diane, lied to the police and provided an alibi for her wicked husband.
Marj was devastated when she realised that her eldest son Darryl had indeed attempted to rape Kirsty. After Darryl was banished from the family fold, Marj got in contact with her eldest daughter (Katherine McRae), whom she had given up for adoption shortly after birth. Tom was not pleased to learn that his wife had had another man's baby before they were married.
Principal share holder of the clinic Noel Sturgess (Martyn Sanderson
Martyn Sanderson
Martyn Sanderson was a New Zealand actor, filmmaker and poet.Sanderson was one of the founders of Downstage Theatre in 1964 in Wellington, with a vision of a small professional company performing challenging works in an intimate venue...
) was bought into the hospital midway through the year instantly taking a liking to Chris Warner. He sexually harassed the female nurses with no one laying complaints as he could take away his money from the clinic. He took a shining to Kirsty and offered her a job with triple the pay and lots of holidays. After weeks of deciding Kirsty decided to decline.
Sam Aleni and Nurse Steve Mills shared a house together and Alison also lived with them. Sam and Steve were Shortland Street's answer to the Odd Couple, with Steve forever being caught up in numerous scams and womanising, while Sam was more serious and devoutly Christian, who despite being in his early 20s was still a virgin as he didn't believe in sex before marriage. However the two got along well enough and soon became best friends and both were fiercely protective of Alison, supporting her as she was let down by Chris time and time again. Steve, after fending off the affections of Gina Rossi (Josephine Davison
Josephine Davison
Josephine Davison is a New Zealand actress. She is well known for playing Gina Rossi-Dodds in the New Zealand soap Shortland Street, Morgana in Power Rangers: S.P.D. and the voice of Itassis in Power Rangers: Mystic Force...
) the manager of the local café, Stromboli, began going out with Sarah Donnelly, and was devastated when she died of melanoma
Melanoma
Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes. Melanocytes are cells that produce the dark pigment, melanin, which is responsible for the color of skin. They predominantly occur in skin, but are also found in other parts of the body, including the bowel and the eye...
.
Michael began drinking heavily and it was revealed that he had a drinking problem which he had battled with for many years. After a drink driving incident, Michael was forced to admit that he was an alcoholic and sought treatment from Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
. Successfully overcoming his drinking problem for the time being, Michael began dating Kirsty's flatmate Julieanne.
Chris and Alison eventually reunited and got engaged. However, Chris soon broke up with Alison in order to return to his ex wife, Melanie. The end of the year showed Alison learning that she was pregnant with Chris' child.
Original Cast Members
- Paul GittinsPaul GittinsPaul Gittins is a New Zealand actor who is best known for playing Doctor Michael McKenna in Shortland Street from 1992 to 1995 and 1998 to 1999, and he has also appeared in The End of the Golden Weather, Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, City Life, The Whole of the Moon and...
(Dr. Michael McKenna) - Michael GalvinMichael GalvinMichael Galvin is a New Zealand actor, singer and playwright, well known for his role as Dr. Chris Warner on the soap opera Shortland Street, a character he has played almost continuously since the shows debut in 1992.-Early life:...
(Dr. Chris WarnerChris WarnerDr. Christopher "Chris" Warner is a fictional character and current main protagonist on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. He is portrayed by Michael Galvin. He is the only original character to still be on the show....
) - Temuera MorrisonTemuera MorrisonTemuera Derek Morrison is a New Zealand-born actor. He has become one of the country's most famous stars for his roles as the abusive Jake "the Muss" Heke in 1994's Once Were Warriors and as bounty hunter Jango Fett and the Clone Troopers in the Star Wars series...
(Dr. Hone RopataHone RopataHone Ropata was a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street and was part of the original cast. He was portrayed by Temuera Morrison who after the role went on to several Hollywood roles...
) - Stephanie Wilkin (Dr. Meredith FlemingMeredith FlemingDr. Meredith Fleming was a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. She was portaryed by Stephanie Wilkin. She was part of original cast and the shows first lesbian relationship.-1992-1993:...
) - Lisa CrittendenLisa CrittendenLisa Crittenden is an Australian actress, noted for her roles in various television series, such as The Restless Years , The Sullivans , Prisoner , Sons and Daughters and the New Zealand produced Shortland Street .She also played a lead role in mini-series Whose Baby? and...
(Nurse Carrie Burton) - Nancy BrunningNancy BrunningNancy Brunning is an actress and director who has won awards in film and television and has made a major contribution to the growth of Māori in the arts. Her accolades include Best Actress awards on stage and screen. She won Best Actress at the NZ Film Awards for her lead role in the movie What...
(Nurse Jaki Manu) - Danielle CormackDanielle CormackDanielle Cormack is a stage and screen actress from New Zealand. She was one of the original core cast of the long-running soap opera Shortland Street, though she is also known for her role as the Amazon Ephiny in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess, Cynthia Ross in The Cult, and Shota in...
(Nurse Alison RaynorAlison RaynorAlison Raynor was a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. She was portrayed by Danielle Cormack and was part of the series original cast.-Creation and Casting:...
) - Andrew Binns (Nurse Steve MillsSteve Mills (Character)Steve Mills was a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. He was portrayed by Andrew Binns and was part of the original core cast....
) - Rene NaufahuRene NaufahuRene Naufahu is a New Zealand-born actor, screen writer and director of Tongan and Samoan heritage. He is perhaps best known for being an original cast member of the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, playing paramedic Sam Aleni for the show's first four years...
(Sam Aleni) - Maggie Harper (P.A. Jenny Harrison)
- Karl BurnettKarl BurnettKarl Burnett is a New Zealand actor born 27 February 1976 best known for his portrayal of Nick Harrison on the long-running New Zealand soap opera, Shortland Street. He was 16 years old when offered the role of Nick Harrison on the popular New Zealand soap Shortland Street in 1992...
(Nick Harrison) - Elizabeth McRaeElizabeth McRaeElizabeth McRae is a New Zealand actress, best known for her portrayal of Marjorie Brasch on the soap opera Shortland Street from 1992 until 1996 with further appearances in 1998 and 2002.Elizabeth's daughter Katherine is also an actress...
(Majorie Neilson) - Adrian Keeling (Tom Neilson)
- Martin HendersonMartin HendersonMartin Henderson is a New Zealand actor, well known to American audiences for his starring role in the ABC TV series Off the Map, while remaining known in his home country for his teenage role as Stuart Neilson in the soap opera Shortland Street.-Life and career:Henderson was born in Auckland, New...
(Stuart NeilsonStuart NeilsonStuart Neilson was a fictional character in the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. He was portrayed by Martin Henderson and was part of the original cast, with a lot of the first episode focusing around him....
) - Angela Marie DotchinAngela Dotchin-External links:...
(Kirsty Knight) - Josephine DavisonJosephine DavisonJosephine Davison is a New Zealand actress. She is well known for playing Gina Rossi-Dodds in the New Zealand soap Shortland Street, Morgana in Power Rangers: S.P.D. and the voice of Itassis in Power Rangers: Mystic Force...
(Gina Rossi)
Recurring Cast Members
- Ken BlackburnKen Blackburn (actor)Ken Blackburn, ONZM is a New Zealand actor and writer. He has worked in film, television, radio and theatre in the UK, New Zealand, and Australia since the 1970s....
(Sir Bruce Warner) - Mark FergusonMark FergusonMark Ferguson is a New Zealand-based Australian actor and television presenter.-Biography:Ferguson was born in Sydney, Australia, in family of Scottish ancestry . He attended the National Institute of Dramatic Art and graduated in 1981...
(Darryl NeilsonDarryl NeilsonDarryl Neilson is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. Darryl was portrayed by Mark Ferguson from 1992 to the characters death in 1995....
) - Glynis McNicoll (Lady Margot WarnerMargot WarnerMargot, Lady Warner was a fictional character in the long running New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. She was portrayed by Glynis McNicoll for multiple recurring stints throughout the nineties and again by Dinal Priestley in 2003 for the characters death.-Overview:She was married to Sir Bruce...
) - Tamati Rice (Henry Tamariki)
- Ezra Woods (Andrew Fleming)
Guest Stars
- Suzy AikenSuzy AikenSuzanne Elizabeth "Suzy" Clarkson is a New Zealand news presenter at Prime Television.She has appeared in the NZ drama Shortland Street, and produced aerobic workout videos and co-authored the book "Healthy Body Healthy Mind". In the late 1980s and early 90s she appeared on the show "Blind Date"...
(Jill) - Craig ParkerCraig ParkerCraig Parker is a New Zealand actor who was based in the United Kingdom for some time, but now resides in New Zealand. His grandfather moved from Edinburgh, Scotland to Fiji when he was stationed during his years of service in the British Army...
(Guy WarnerGuy WarnerGuy Warner is a fictional character in the long running New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. He was portrayed by Craig Parker in a guest role in 1992 before returning as core cast from 1993 to 1996...
) - Katherine McRae (Jane Fitzgerald) Marj's illegitimate daughter
- Martyn SandersonMartyn SandersonMartyn Sanderson was a New Zealand actor, filmmaker and poet.Sanderson was one of the founders of Downstage Theatre in 1964 in Wellington, with a vision of a small professional company performing challenging works in an intimate venue...
(Noel Sturgess)