David Kearney (Shortland Street)
Dr. David Kearney is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, who was portrayed by Peter Elliott from early 1996 to late 1999 and for a guest appearances in 2020 and 2022, where he returned for the show's 30th anniversary.
Creation and casting
Peter Elliott was cast in the role of David in 1995, with his first appearance airing in early 1996. Part of the intention of the characters introduction, was a future partnership with established character – Ellen Crozier, for what was to become, a cot death storyline. Elliott stated, "It’s an honour to be asked to join New Zealand’s most successful television drama.... It is a lovely challenge to play someone who is straightforward and charming because I’m so used to being the nasty guy." David arrived to screens with the producers intending to expand upon his family. He was said to have a "secret", which was later revealed to be a runaway homeless son. A minor character named Fergus, who had appeared in several episodes in late 1995, impressed producers and he was rewritten so as to be David's estranged son. Elliot was protective of his character and would change lines and object to storylines so as to best suit how he thought David would act. This led to a conflict with the production staff due to what Elliot believed was an inaccurate portrayal of men on the soap opera. He had a "worry that there was nothing on television that young males could see that was in any way a positive role model."In 1999, Elliott's contract was not renewed. He was "outraged" and "upset", but later was happy to have had the ability to work in other roles. Elliott believed himself to be "bitter and tired and worn out" at the time of the axing believing that he had left "under a bit of a cloud... I felt the powers that be had betrayed me. I felt a bit sold out." The character made his last appearance alongside screen wife Ellen, in November 1999. Elliott reprised his role for cameos in 2020, and in May 2022 for the show's 30th anniversary. Several months later Elliott was invited back in an extended stint, debuting in November 2022 and believed due to his previous axing he had, "carried a lot of baggage around that for quite some time. That’s been largely healed by being invited back". He signed an initial contract until early 2023.
Storylines
David arrived as Jenny Harrison's oncologist after her diagnosis of breast cancer. He developed an interest in the clinic and ended up buying Julia Thornton's shares and the management contract, placing him as the Clinic Director. He briefly dated Caroline Buxton before he fell in love with Ellen Crozier and the two moved in together. However the return of his ex-wife Isobel saw Ellen flee to Fiji and when David followed her and they reconciled, she admitted she was pregnant. The following year the two married and not long later, Ellen gave birth to Rose. Rose died from cot death and when David discovered Ellen had cheated on him in grief, he too had an affair with Bridget Hastings. However, as the year ended he realised he still loved Ellen but Bridget's diagnosis with a brain tumour led him to stay with her. In 1999 David and Ellen began an affair and Bridget soon left him. The happiness was short lived however when David was diagnosed with a rare disorder that would leave him blind. He retired and the couple decided to move to a lifestyle block in the Hawkes Bay. David and Ellen did not return for David's son Fergus' wedding in 2001 as David was too ill.In 2020 Boyd Rolleston was shocked to learn his mother Susan and father were divorcing as Susan had been having an affair. Inviting the new man to his wedding, Boyd was introduced to David whom Susan was now in a partnership with. David returned in a documentary style reappearance in 2022 reminiscing on his time as head of the then private clinic he part owned. David returned later to replace Raj Prasad as the DHB representative overseeing the hospital. He used his influence to remove TK Samuels as CEO with Rebekah Anderson replacing him, and the funding from her church used to rebuild the fire-damaged hospital. Chris later discovered David had been blackmailed into doing so by Rebekah. Upon being confronted, David joined forces with Chris and TK to dispatch Rebekah and pressured Monique Strutter into the Operations Manager role as her replacement. However following an unsuccessful intern programme and shooting at the hospital, he sidelined Monique and put Esther Samuels into the CEO role. In 2024 David encouraged Esther and Monique to pursue Artificial Intelligence-based surgery at the hospital.