Shortland Street turns 25: A trip down memory lane with the characters of Shortland Street

It wouldn't be the 25th of May without acknowledging the biggest birthday of the year. Long running New Zealand television show turns 25 today. Can you actually believe it? The show is turning 25. TWENTY FIVE.

That's more than most television shows survive. If you recall, Friends and How I Met Your Mother only had ten and nine respectively. Outrageous Fortune had six, and Sex and the City had the same, followed by two movies as well.

25 years is longer than some friendships and it's longer than the average person spends in the education system. Some people don't even live in the same city for 25 years, so the fact that a television show, such as Shortland Street has survived for so long is a major achievement that the writers and cast should be extremely proud of.

When Shortland Street first started on May 25th 1992 the expectations were low. As the only original cast member, Michael Galvin (who plays Dr Chris Warner) has said, nobody knew what to expect, and nothing of its type had been done in New Zealand before.

Four years after Shortland Street first aired, a new drama, City Life was created. City Life centred around the lives of a group of 20 somethings living in Auckland. The program did not survive and it was swiftly axed. Most people wouldn't even remember the program, but at the time it was dubbed New Zealand's answer to Melrose Place.

Over the last 25 years there have been hundreds, if not thousands of characters that have come and gone. The lives of the residents of Ferndale have been turned upside down with earthquakes, explosions, bombs, murders, plane crashes, stabbings, and untimely deaths.

Popular nurse, Carmen Roberts died way too soon after a truck crashed into the clinic, icy cold Li Mie Chen who died at the hands of Stryker Virus just a few months after her boyfriend, Norman Hanson died from a car crash caused by the return of his brain tumour; and bar manager Jay Copeland was taken way too soon after being the third victim of the Ferndale Stranger, also known as "Joseph James Henderson, gone but never forgotten". Others to die before their time include Rangi Heremaia, Dr Craig Valentine and who could forget the original joker, Steve Mills who tragically died in a car crash in 1994, along with TP, who had earlier married ambulance officer, Sam Aleni.

Others to depart too soon include cafe owner, Lionel Skeggins whose body was never recovered; and his first wife, Kirsty Knight, one of the original receptionists left with Daryl Neilson's good twin brother, Damien. She was played by Angela Dotchin, who quit acting and now resides in Europe and works in the fashion industry; Nick and Waverley Harrison who both moved to Taranaki after a spate of burglaries left Nick paranoid, Stuart Neilson; and Luke and Bella Durville.

There have been a multitude of teens from Nick Harrison, who married wacky Waverley, Stuart Neilson, Minnie Crozier, James Thornton, Daniel Potts, Shannon and Tama Hudson; Sophie McKay and Rachel McKenna just to name a few.

Rachel went onto marry Dr Chris Warner and became CEO of Shortland Street Hospital before she once again succumbed to the booze last year after her old flame, Glen Rickman returned following an affair they had off screen in 2014. She departed the show soon after her breakdown, leaving Chris Warner alone.

As you'd expect though, with all his previous love affairs, Dr Chris Warner would not be alone for long. He still had his teenage son, Harry (mothered by the late Toni Warner) living with him and his other children would soon arrive.

2016 saw the arrival his first son, one of the triplets who he had with original Director of Nursing, Carrie Burton after anonymously donating his sperm. Finn Connelly arrived as a doctor at the hospital, and just like Chris, he specialises in plastics. Just a few months later, his daughter, Sass would arrive, followed by the third wayward triplet, Frank, who now manages the IV Bar, which is owned by long running couple Nicole and Vinnie Kruse-Miller.

He is the only remaining original cast member; and just like Home and Away's Alf Stewart, the show now centres around the Warner family. It always has to an extent, although in the early years, the McKennas and the Neilsons were also two of the major families. The Coopers, Hudsons, Heywoods, McKays and Valentines never really had the same impact that the Warners and the McKennas have had.

Although, if it wasn't for the McKays, then like so many who came before her, the career of Kimberley Crossman, who played Sophie, would not have taken off. Kim Crossman has since gone on to star in many movies and TV programs in the US joining the ranks of Karl Urban, Temuera Morrison, Martin Henderson and others.

Some actors who had their career launched on The Street have remained in NZ. Amongst that list are Robyn Malcolm (Outrageous Fortune), Claire Chitham (Outrageous Fortune and Australian show Neighbours), Shane Cortese (Outrageous Fortune and Dancing with the Stars) and many others, including Blair Strang who quit Law School to take his role on Shortland Street.

So what has made Shortland Street last so long? Some would say it's because it's a New Zealand show that New Zealanders can relate to. Since the show begun it has never been afraid ot tackling the tough issues.

The very first episode dealt with a teen pregnancy, and a week later nurse Jaki Manu accidentally pricked herself with a needle exposing her to HIV, which in 1992 was a big deal causing fear amongst the clinic staff, teachers at Ferndale High School were accused of being sexual molesters, teens such as Fergus Kearney and Lulu Chatfield ran away from home, Minnie Crozie lost her virginity as soon as she could, Lucas, one of Nick Harrison's friends committed suicide; and Blue, a current core cast member is the first transgender character to appear on the show in a major role (although, those who watched in 1995 will recall that Lionel briefly dated a transgender woman), and throughout its run it has dealt with mental illness, one notable storyline involved teenager Scarlett Valentine, who after being bullied at school tried to murder Hunter McKay. She was acquitted and moved to live with her mother Paula in Perth.

The show has also dealt with IVF and euthanasia, with Maia Jeffries getting pregnant through artificial insemination and Caroline Buxton helping her friend Annabel Lustwick kill herself after suffering from MS. The show has dealt with physical disabilities such as paraplegia (Tane Samuels after a car crash) and developmental issues (Amanda Warner); and blindness (Nick Harrison after a firework exploded) as well as Rangi Heremaia (trapped between a wall and a car that Rachel McKenna was driving while drunk). The program has also explored marriages of convenience (Nick and Rachel in 1994, and Boyd and Brooke in 2012); less common "disabilities" such as Tourettes Sydrome, with Angus Phelps appearing from 2007 - 2008; and Gabrielle Jacobs, a doctor having Asperger's Syndrome.

It hasn't explicitly been said but it is possible that early cast member, Dr Emily Devine played by Michaela Rooney (now a storyliner) had Asperger's and that current cast member, Dr Eve Reston may have it as well.

Fans who have been watching a long time will also recall all the villians who have appeared on the show. The original villian was of course receptionist Marjorie Brasch's son, Daryl Neilson who would often torment his younger brother Stuart, and Kirsty before he plummeted to his watery death after falling off the Toroa following a fight with Kirsty. Other villians include Dominic Thompson, the deceptive brother of nurse, Toni Thompson who killed Geoff Greenlaw and Avril Lucich before torching himself in a barn (an incident that Chris Warner narrowly escaped), Mackenzie Choat who married Lionel a short time after killing fellow villian Oscar Henry who had raped Minnie Crozier; and her aunt Carla, who murdered her psycho husband Bernie before being admitted to a psych unit and trying to kill Ellen. There have been many others throughout the years, although these are the memorable ones.

The most memorable villian though has to be Joey Henderson who, in 2007, killed five characters - Claire Solomon, Meg Harris, Jay Copeland, Beth Wilson and nurse Brrenda Holloway who was close to revealing the identity of the killer. Joey tried to kill Tania Jeffries and Shanti Kumari before settling on his final victim Alice Piper. Luckily for Alice, Detective Lara Wade as well as Craig Valentine and Keiran Mitchell realised that he was the killer, and he was stopped. The difference with Joey was that even though he was a villian, he was very likeable unlike the others; and even though he killed himself when his identity was revealed, he has gone down in the soap's history as, "Joseph James Henderson, gone but never forgotten".  The actor who played him, Johnny Barker since went onto achieve more acting roles in New Zealand, although now he focuses on his music.

The only character that gives him a run for his money as being the most "successful" villian is current cast member Mason Coutts (played by Colin Moy, who in 2004 played Craig Valentine's brother, Brett).

Mason is the mayor of Ferndale and he is incredibly dodgy. He is a serial killer, although he doesn't do the dirty work. He pays people to do it for him. That storyline is all going to go down in flames tonight when the 25th Anniversary episode airs.

So what can we expect from the next 25 years?

It's hard to say, but now that this storyline will come to a head tonight, and see the return of fan favourites, Nick and Waverley Harrison, Lionel Skeggins and Marjorie Brasch, the pipeline storylines revolve around Chris Warner's health and his relationship with nurse Kate Nathan, the return of Hawks (a former ED doctor, not currently working); and the fun relationship of Damo Johnson and Leanne Black (nee Miller), plus the complicated relationship between Drs Boyd Rolleston and Eve Reston, who is carrying his child.

Happy birthday Shortland Street! It's been a great first 25 years. Here's to another 25.

And in the words of Joey Henderson, characters may come and go on the program, but they are "gone but never forgotten".