Shortland Street is a television soap opera from New Zealand, first broadcast on 25 May 1992. It currently airs on television network TVNZ 2.

The 26th season of Shortland Street began airing on 15 January 2018. The following is a list of characters that appeared on the show in 2018 by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by the show's executive producer Maxine Fleming.

Dion Tai

Dion Tai, played by Sonny Tupu,^[1] made his first appearance on 23 January 2018.

Dion arrives at the hospital as a famous rugby league star for a charity photo shoot. Upon running into the star-struck Jack (Reuben Milner), Dion openly discriminates against him for his sexuality, and flirts with Sass Warner (Lucy Lovegrove). However, upon running into Jack again, it emerges that Dion himself is secretly gay, and attracted to Jack. The two begin a casual relationship, with Dion too afraid to come out due to his high-profile rugby league career. However, when Jack gives him an ultimatum, Dion comes out on national television and the two enter a loving committed relationship. Shortly into the relationship, Dion begins to have health problems and is diagnosed with terminal melanoma. He retires from sport and despite initial hesitation, allows Jack to nurse him; eventually dying in his arms. Alongside his cancer treatment, Dion consumes brownies laced with medicinal marijuana. Weeks after his death, Damo, who was dieting, consumes them, and experiences severe hallucinations.

Zoe Carlson

Zoe Carlson, played by Holly Shervey,^[2] made her first screen appearance on 9 April 2018.

She initially stays with Vinnie and Nicole in a rented room in their house, but when she overstays her welcome, the couple try to get rid of her. Zoe leaves bad reviews of the rental, and it turns out that she is the younger sister of Kate Nathan. Dawn sets Zoe up to be Curtis' love interest, but Dawn has no idea that Zoe is Curtis' step-aunt.

Zoe is hired as a PA after Leanne was recovering from a broken wrist and Sass Warner moves to Italy to take care of Hawks. While working, she develops feelings for Chris Warner. Chris attempts to fire Zoe for her poor performance, but she emotionally blackmails Chris by falsely claiming to have cancer. Chris is hesitant to believe her, but Zoe manages to convince him by saying her cancer is Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a far more treatable form. Chris' son Finn, however, warns his father to fire her regardless, but Chris has begun to have feelings for Zoe. After taking care of a terminal patient by reading to her, Zoe's guilt finally overwhelms her after the patient passes away. On the 7th of May, when she tries to show signs of her illness after feeling threatened by Chris hiring an accountant that can double as a PA, Damo forces Zoe to confess the truth of her illness to Kate after Chris covers up for her.

When Chris and Zoe announce their relationship publicly, Zoe finds out she is pregnant while Chris is away in Shanghai as Zhilan, Chris' daughter-in-law, went into labour months early. Zoe and Kate also found out that Nicole Miller has been their half-sister all along when Neville Carlson, their father, finds Leanne and tries to reconcile. However, after Chris Warner returns, Jarryd arrives and demanded money from her, as Zoe had lied about him being abusive towards Leanne. Leanne rescinds her resignation, but Te Rongopai and Nicole see through Leanne's attempt to get her job back, so Zoe is reassigned to work alongside her on the reception desk, while a young man fills the role of PA with MBA, but soon leaves for a better job.

Zoe has an ultrasound, which shows that the baby is smaller than normal, and is later diagnosed to have high risk of Down's Syndrome. Chris suggests Zoe has an abortion, thinking she will never cope, but Zoe is deeply offended. Chris blames himself for possibly passing his genes on due to him being an older father, but later assigns some blame to Zoe. After helping Finn get reinstated as a surgeon, Zoe and Finn develop feelings for each other while realising their relationship is a bad idea. Chris walks in on the pair after the second time they kiss, ending his relationship with Zoe and disowning Finn. After being thrown out of Chris' house, Zoe is attacked by the Beechwood Beast, being raped and brutally assaulted. Being admitted to Shortland Street, Zoe is told she has miscarried her baby.

Dylan Reinhart

Dylan Reinhart, played by Ryan O'Kane,^[3] made his first appearance on 18 April 2018.

Dylan is first introduced finding a weakened Erin Landry after she left Vinnie's House without her son. After a clash with Kylie in the emergency room, Dylan is introduced by the returning Julia as her husband. He was originally working as a GP in Central Hospital, having worked in the lower South Island, and previously attended university in Otago with Boyd Rolleston (Sam Bunkall). He is hired as ED Consultant and GP at the Shortland Street hospital, where his terms of contract are leaked by Zoe to the staff.

At the hospital, Dylan undermines Harper Whitley's (Ria Vandervis) authority over treatment plans, but he is proven to be correct afterward, angering Harper while starting a rivalry with Harper's husband Drew (Ben Barrington). Dylan is chastised by his sister-in-law Kylie Brown (Kerry-Lee Dewing) as well as hospital CEO Chris Warner (Michael Galvin) over paying for a poor patient's medical bills with his own money. After a tennis game at Dylan and Julia's mansion, Kylie miscarries the child she is carrying. Dylan and Julia subsequently agree for Julia to be Kylie and husband Frank Warner's (Luke Patrick) surrogate mother. Dylan later privately confesses his lustful feelings toward Kylie.

Dylan then meets Miranda, the sister of his ex-wife Cassidy, and the two clash. Before Miranda departs, she leaves Julia with an ominous warning about Dylan. Dylan then snaps and tells Julia he hates her and was actually intending on marrying her sister. After this, he sabotages Julia's seatbelt while driving and crashes into a tree. He kills Julia by fiddling with her life support system once she is hospital.

Dylan begins to spend his insurance pay-out while showing a strange lack of grief towards the death of his wife, arousing suspicion from Frank. Dylan then begins to manipulate promiscuous nurse Dawn Robinson (Rebekah Palmer) into sleeping with him and then to dump her boyfriend Ali Karim (Tane Williams-Accra).

Dylan goes on a fishing excursion with Frank at Kylie's behest, having fantasies about murdering Frank the entire time. However, on 31 August, Frank pays ex-gang member Skinny to scare off Dylan, but Skinny goes too far and almost kills Dylan. Dylan threatens to sue Frank over the incident, and Frank attacks him, nearly choking him to death. This turns out to be part of Dylan's plan, as the incident leads to Kylie dumping Frank for Dylan. In December, he becomes engaged to Kylie, but the reappearance of his twin brother, Daniel, digs up the incident that led to their staying separate. Daniel dated Dylan's ex-wife, Stephanie, who Dylan killed via a car accident, in a similar way he killed Julia.

In the lead-up to the 2018 Christmas cliffhanger, Dylan and Kylie embark on their honeymoon where partway through the drive, Kylie receives text messages from Harper, warning her about how Dylan killed his two previous wives. Kylie realises that Dylan will try to kill her for insurance money, and ends up killing him on the final episode of 2018 by asphyxiation.

Dylan made sporadic returns in 2019 as Kylie's evil conscience before and after she married Dan.

Becky Reid

Becky Reid, played by Awhimai Fraser, first appeared on 24 April 2018.

Becky first appeared at a hen's night in the IV Bar, engaging in a slanging contest with and then eventually ending up in bed with police officer Curtis Hannah (Jayden Daniels). It is then revealed that Becky is the bride, with her husband being Curtis' police trainer, Tank Reid (Jack Barry). Panicking at first, the smitten Curtis continues pursuing the married Becky, who becomes a nurse at Shortland Street. Upon reflection, Becky realises she was more in love with Curtis than her husband, separating from Tank and entering a relationship with the Curtis.

Tank Reid

Thomas "Tank" Reid, played by Jack Barry, made his first appearance on 3 May 2018.^[4]

Tank is Curtis Hannah's (Jayden Daniels) trainer from Ferndale Police, and Becky Reid's (Awhimai Fraser) husband. He goes to the IV Bar when Becky throws him out of the house. Curtis beats Tank in a fitness drill in the morning, so he decides to shorten the practice. However, just as Tank is about to have a final round of drinks with Curtis, he tears his right meniscus and requires surgery. When Becky tries to end their marriage, Tank loses control and becomes extremely vengeful. Tank tries to test Curtis during the later fitness tests. When he finds out that Becky had an affair with Curtis, Tank lets him fall down the obstacle wall, but decides to help him finish his apprenticeship, provided Becky and Curtis never see each other again. Curtis graduates after Becky and Tank end their marriage. Tank suffers injuries after he has a driving accident, but recovers. He returns when his father is admitted to hospital due to a heart attack.

With his father also feeling bad that Becky left Tank for a former prisoner, Tank verbally abuses Curtis, while speaking ill of Pixie Hannah (Thomasin McKenzie), which causes Curtis to snap. After the scuffle, Tank admits that his father put him up to it, and is prescribed diazepam.

A day later, CCTV footage identifies him as being within the vicinity of an attack by the serial sex offender, the Beechwood Beast. Tank is taken in for questioning after Curtis and Darryl review the footage. However, the morning after Zoe Carlson (Holly Shervey) is raped, Curtis sees Tank hiding a mask, heightening suspicions that he is the sex offender, until Kate Hannah (Laurie Devenie) realises that Tank is covering for his father, Ian Reid (Phil Vaughan). The suspects' blood type is later found to be a match for Ian. Tank is charged with perversion of justice.

Te Rongopai Rameka

Te Rongopai Rameka, played by Kim Garrett, first appeared on 13 June 2018.

Te Rongopai is appointed as the acting CEO of Shortland Street in the absence of Chris Warner (Michael Galvin) by the DHB, to the annoyance of Drew McCaskill (Ben Barrington). Te Rongopai begins to reverse decisions she believes have been done as results of white privilege and nepotism, such as terminating the employment of Chris's son Frank Warner (Luke Patrick) while favouring Māori members of staff.

Te Rongopai gives Esther a paid working study programme to further her skills as an emergency surgeon, while giving her time to heal her injuries inflicted upon her by her ex-husband Finn (Lukas Whiting), another of Chris' sons and disgraced former surgeon. She also introduces a free Māori Language tuition program. Te Rongopai's husband, Pita (Jamie MacCaskill) was the Māori Minister of Health, with much of his work happening in Wellington. Their daughter Rangimarie is a part-time activist.

Upon Chris's return, Te Rongopai remains a permanent second-in-charge of Shortland Street Hospital as Chief Operating Officer. Soon after the return of Chris, Te Rongopai finds that her husband is having an affair with his secretary, so she ends the marriage. Taking charge of the hospital again in Chris' absence, Te Rongopai gets into a relationship with Dr Boyd Rolleston (Sam Bunkall), but it does not last long when she briefly gets back with Pita to keep Rangimarie happy. In December, 2018, her feelings with TK return, and she breaks up with Pita for good.

Professionally, due to her manipulating the donor's list to use Kawe's deceased heart to save Esther Samuels, she is stood down from holding high managerial and clinical positions, and can only work as an administrative advisor. However, with Drew's home detention due to tax fraud, Te Rongopai becomes a non-clinical 2IC of Shortland Street.

In 2019, when Chris being injured in a plane accident, Te Rongopai resumes her role as acting CEO, where she meets Hawks Logan for the first time. She tries to link him up with Ester, without knowing that he is already in a relationship with Sass.

On 5 May 2019, after breaking up with TK when he cheats on her to be with Kylie, she is stabbed in the abdomen by Charlie, who was in a meth-induced hallucination and rage. After coronal bypass surgery, she is in a drug-induced coma overnight. Shortly after awaking from her coma, she experiences ventricular tachycardia, which worsens to ventricular fibrillation. About to be pronounced dead, extended CPR by TK saves her life. Despite this, TK decides not to return to dating Te Rongopai, and she becomes determined to investigate the rumour that he killed Hayden to save Kylie.

She returned to the show in 2022, working in the DHB to promote Māori heath, and she keeps pushing TK to work in Wellington with her. However, upon hearing of his prostate cancer diagnosis, Zoe Carlson's lawsuit against Chris Warner, and Warner's racist video against Chris Warner, she manoeuvres TK into the role of CEO, while also having an affair with him.

Pita Rameka

Pita Rameka, played by Jamie MacCaskill, made his first appearance on 8 July 2018.

Pita first appears accompanying his wife Te Rongopai (Kim Garrett) to the housewarming party of Drew McCaskill (Ben Barrington) and Harper Whitley (Ria Vandervis). It is revealed by Drew that Pita is the Māori Minister of Health, based out of Wellington. Pita tries to offer TK Samuels (Ben Mitchell) a role in the Ministry, despite him being against the euthanasia legalisation bill, but TK declines.

Pita then helps his nephew, Kawe Osbourne (James Rolleston) to get a job running a coffee cart outside of the hospital. Pita is blasted by orderly Jack Hannah (Reuben Milner) for the unreasonable staffing levels at the hospital which necessitate Jack working multiple 12-hour shifts, and being forced to do things such as inject morphine despite not being qualified. Later, Pita's secretary, Keira, outs the affair she and Pita were having behind Te Rongopai's back.

Pita later moves to Australia to be with Keira. In 2019, he is diagnosed with stage 2 bowel cancer.

Tim Myers

Tim Myers, played by Jamie Wells, made his first appearance on 9 July 2018. He first appeared from 9 July 2018 to 1 August 2018 and returned on 15 October 2019 as regular character.

He is first introduced as an ambulance recruit who advises Ali Karmin to stay away from Dawn Robinson, explaining that he is a single man who had been hurt by former partners before, which made him extremely cynical and sceptical towards love and romance. He becomes vindictive and hateful towards Dawn, making him suspected of being the wanted serial rapist.

When he returns to the show late in July, he starts stalking Nicole after she rejects his advances multiple times. He breaks into her house on 3 August, the same day that an unknown assailant stole oxycodone from the hospital, then knocked Dawn out cold after she tried to make a failed citizen's arrest. He returns in October 2019, much to the shock of Nicole Miller, and starts a relationship with Shereez Baker.

After a patient comes in and recognises Tim as her ex-boyfriend, Zara tells Tim to stay away from her and he tells her to go back to India. Zara shouts out that Tim is a racist, and Tim reports her to Human Resources. In December, leading up to the cliffhanger, he proposes to Shareez and she accepts. Shareez talks to Sam the psychiatrist about her relationship with Tim, and Shareez tells Tim what they talked about. Tim enters Sam's home and he assaults Sam, leaving him with a brain injury. In the 2019 season finale, he holds Boyd, Zara, and Chris hostage in his office before taking Boyd and Zara in an ambulance and blowing it up. It was revealed in the 2020 opening episode that Tim was killed in the explosion.

Ian Reid

Ian Reid played by Phil Vaughan first appeared on 24 July 2018.^[5]

Ian is Tank Reid's (Jack Barry) father, and Becky Reid's (Awhimai Fraser) former father-in-law. Prior to his appearance, he suffers a heart attack and needs stents. He authorises arrest warrants when Curtis Hannah (Jayden Daniels) is charged with the attempted arson of Chris Warner's house after Pixie Hannah dies in 2015. This incident leads him to believe he is undeserving to be a cop, and Ian retires. Ian is later revealed as the Beechwood Beast, the serial rapist responsible for a rape which took place in 2017, as well as an assault on Kate Hannah (Laurel Devenie), and attempted attacks on Nicole Miller (Sally Martin) and Dawn Robinson (Rebekah Palmer).

Prior to being revealed as the serial rapist, Ian is admitted to the hospital with a number of health problems. While being tended to by Becky, Ian attempts to manipulate his daughter-in-law into getting back together with Tank. He also goads Tank into provoking a fight with Curtis Hannah, by having Tank mock the death of Pixie.

After being discharged, Ian attacks former police officer Clint Allen (Ryan Lampp) for trying to identify the serial rapist. Upon admission into hospital again, Ian claims his facial injuries were the result of walking into a door, but Curtis and Becky are certain his injuries were assault injuries inflicted by Tank. After being discharged again, Ian attacks and rapes Zoe Carlson (Holly Shervey), causing severe injuries and the miscarriage of her baby. Curtis tests Tank for DNA after catching Tank on CCTV footage near the park where Dawn was almost attacked weeks prior, and Kate identifies Ian as the serial rapist as his AB+ blood type is a positive match as opposed to Tank's blood type.

Becky visits Ian to inform him of Tank being taken in for questioning, and discovers the bite marks Zoe left on Ian's arm while attempting to change his dressing on his wound. Ian attacks Becky, but Kate arrives and rushes to defend Becky. The police then arrive, restrain Kate and arrest Ian. Upon arrest, it is revealed that Ian was guilty of several assaults that took place over the years in Ferndale, including one in 1993.

Ian was eventually charged and is sentenced to prison. He returns to the show in December after he is attacked in prison, and is admitted to Shortland Street. While there, he is killed by an unknown female assailant.

Kawe Osbourne

Kawe Osbourne, played by James Rolleston, first appeared on 25 July 2018.

Kawe first arrives as the owner of a coffee cart that causes Drew McCaskill's (Ben Barrington) cafe to lose business. It is revealed that Kawe is the nephew of Te Rongopai (Kim Garrett) and Pita Rameka (Jamie MacCaskill) and was hired due to his familial connections within the hospital. It is also revealed that Kawe and Esther Samuels (Ngahuia Piripi) previously dated, but split up when Kawe went to jail for causing a car accident.

Upon reaching an agreement with Drew to teach the cafeteria and IV Bar staff how to make superior coffee, Kawe clashes with Esther's abusive husband, Finn Warner (Lukas Whiting). Kawe develops feelings for Esther, and the two kiss before Kawe leaves the hospital to work at a music festival. Kawe returns in September that year, but runs into trouble when one of his three coffee carts is destroyed by a fire. He resorts to selling methamphetamine instead of taking loans from Esther or Te Rongopai. When he tried to quit dealing drugs, he is harassed by Blake's associates.

Discovering that Esther has terminal heart failure, he proposes and marries her on the 23rd of September. The next day however, Trevor and his associates throw Kawe off his hotel balcony, with Esther suffering a cardiac arrest from the shock. Trevor dies the day after on the operating table due to brain damage. Te Rongopai tries to donate Kawe's heart to Esther as his dying wish, which is illegal under Commonwealth laws.

Lincoln Kimiora

Lincoln Kimiora, played by Alex Tarrant, made his first appearance on 1 August 2018.

Lincoln makes his first appearance naked in the men's changing rooms at the hospital, introducing himself to a shocked Jack Hannah (Reuben Milner). Jack takes a romantic interest in Lincoln, but backs off after discovering Lincoln is already in a relationship. Jack has sex with a young man named Connor (Jonathan James) instead. Unknown to Jack, Connor is Lincoln's unfaithful partner.

On the 28th of August, when Jack finds methamphetamine in his car, Lincoln discloses that his father had died from cancer, and he has been a drug user ever since.

After a night out of partying with Jack and Nicole, Lincoln has sex with Nicole at Jack's house. After Nicole tells Leanne that she had a one-night stand with a "gay guy", Leanne sees Nicole and Jack hugging in the IV, and assumes it was Jack who she had slept with.

In September, Lincoln is ordered by Chris Warner to stay clean, after Mo Hannah accuses him of dragging Jack down after Jack is poisoned by impure drugs. After helping Jack to quit, he proposes to Jack and also becomes a surgical fellow trainee in waiting.

In November, he is engaged to Jack, and tries to have a baby with Claire, who had feelings for Jack, but was raped by Ian Reid in June. Lincoln also has sex with drug dealer Charlie and gets back into drugs again, causing him to lose his job at the hospital. Lincoln leaves Ferndale after the death of his new-born daughter (with Nicole after a one-night stand), and breaks up with Jack after confessing his relapse back into drugs and sleeping with Charlie.

An out-of-universe reason for Lincoln's departure was that Alex Tarrant had to leave the show, travelling to Australia for a reboot of SeaChange.^[6]

Danielle Fox

Danielle Fox, played by Phoebe McKellar, first appeared on 25 September 2018.

Danielle arrived in Ferndale as a candidate nanny for Drew and Harper's child, Billie.

Minerva McCaskill

Becky "Minerva" McCaskill, played by Yvette Parsons, made her first appearance on 4 October 2018.

Minerva arrives to track down Harper Whitley, her daughter-in-law, so that she can reconcile with her son Drew after leaving him when he was a child. She is a spiritual person, and her spiritual and cryptic way of talking drives Drew mad. In 2020, she uses her herbal concoction to cure Billie, who has a bad cough. Minerva is later discovered to have stage 4 breast cancer that has gotten worse despite her self-medicating for months. Drew urges her to undergo surgery, and she relents. Minerva has a double mastectomy, on the condition that Drew will perform the double breast reconstruction.

Daniel Reinhart

Daniel Reinhart, played by Ryan O'Kane, made his first appearance on 3 December 2018.

Daniel is the twin brother of Dylan Reinhart, who is also played by O'Kane.^[7] The actor found playing twins "really fun, especially because I had already put a bit of myself into Dylan and then when Dan came along it was like, 'How do you differentiate? How do you come up with different mannerisms?'."^[7] O'Kane was forced to shave off his beard to play Daniel, as the crew were unable to find another person with the right colouring or stubble to fill in for his shoulders and neck.^[7]

Daniel is a Shortland Street surgeon filling in for the suspended Boyd Rolleston. He studied in England, and is a very nerdy and a seemingly unassuming and simple-minded guy compared to his twin. However, Dylan is resentful because Daniel had sex with his former wife, Stephanie. Daniel discovers Dylan has remarried and suspects that Dylan killed his wife Julia in the same way he killed Stephanie. Daniel and Harper Whitley believe that Kylie Brown (Kerry-Lee Dewing) is in danger after Dylan signs Kylie up for life insurance. However, when nobody believes him, he takes a job in Arizona after needing to follow up on an old patient.

On 12 July 2019, Daniel is wheeled into the emergency room after a car accident. He suffered a ruptured spleen and three broken ribs. Kylie confuses him with Dylan, who she killed. The accident was an attempted suicide by way of drink-driving and driving while unrestrained, due to feeling guilty for Dylan's deranged behvaiour. On 16 July's one-hour episode, Daniel suffers an anaphylactic episode due to taking an antibiotic, preventing him from breathing. After Kylie saves him, Daniel gives up his suicide attempts, but Kylie is highly concerned. Daniel has a short marriage to Kylie, and witnesses her being baptised as a born again Christian. However, he annuls the marriage when Kylie confides to him that she killed Dylan.

Others

References

External links

• Characters and cast at the Official TVNZ website