List of Shortland Street characters introduced in 2008
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street in 2008, by order of first appearance.Dr. Dinesh Jivani was the arranged fiancé of Shanti Kumari. Dinesh arrived to Ferndale with the intention of marrying Shanti as was planned by their parents and quickly got a job at the hospital. However, Joey revealed that Shanti had moved on and Shanti desperately tried to lose Dinesh. However, when her relationship with Scotty dissolved, she and Dinesh finally got together. It was not long before the relationship ended however and Dinesh finally realised Shanti would not marry him. He had a one-night stand with Toni Warner before returning to India.Morgan Braithwaite
Morgan Braithwaite was the old nursing school friend of serial killer, Joey Henderson. She debuted as a recurring character in early 2008 before returning later in the year and featuring in several key storylines. Morgan was interested in the shy Joey but the two's romance never took off and Morgan left town when she discovered he was a murderer.
She returned months later when it was revealed she was buying his items online and soon started up a relationship with Gerald Tippett. However, Gerald's asexuality caused the couple to break up, and Morgan briefly dated Hunter. Morgan agreed to be an illegal surrogate mother to her friend Cindy and her husband Trent but when she learned she was having triplets and they wanted to abort one, she decided to keep the children. Her romance with Gerald reignited and the two married so as to provide the babies with a stable family. However, Morgan eventually decided to give the babies back and separated from Gerald. She was shocked in late 2009 when new nurse Nicole, revealed she was Morgan's sister. Morgan's comic books got bought by an Australian company but just days before she was due to leave, she was struck and killed by a car driven by Kieran Mitchell.Kath Bennett
Kath Bennett was the estranged mother of Joey Henderson. Kath arrived to Joey's flat in February 2008 in an attempt to reconcile with her son but Joey refused to get on with his mother and shocked his flatmates when he sent Kath flying to the ground. Kath warned Kieran Mitchell to keep an eye on Joey and left. Following Joey's death and the revelation he was a serial killer, Kath came into the hospital, having tried to kill herself.Rebecca "Beccs" Scott was the older sister of James "Scotty" Scott. Shanti caught Scotty with Rebecca and suspected she was his mistress, however it turned out Scotty was renting out a house to his sister and their father Jimmy. Rebecca later attended Scotty and Shanti's wedding and began to date Shanti's brother Sunil. In 2009 Rebecca moved in with Scotty and Shanti when they were forced to sell her house. However, Shanti soon realised Rebecca was a prostitute. Scotty tried to desperately talk her out of it and after another brief flirtation with Sunil, he left her when he discovered the truth. Rebecca began to work for Kieran Mitchell, but Sean introduced drugs to the business and Rebecca quit in December to pursue a moral career in Wellington. In 2011 Rebecca's mother Hine went to live with her and meet her grandchildren.Amy Scott
Amy Scott was the young daughter of Rebecca. In 2009 her uncle Scotty and his wife Shanti offered to adopt her but were rejected. In 2011 Amy met her grandmother Hine Ryan.Jessie Scott
Jessie Scott was the young son of Rebecca. In 2009 his uncle Scotty and his wife Shanti offered to adopt him but were rejected. In 2011 Jessie met his grandmother Hine Ryan.Jimmy Scott
James "Jimmy" Scott was the alcoholic and gambling addicted father of Scotty. Scotty was reluctant to let Jimmy get to know his fiancé Shanti and subsequently the two began to meet privately. Jimmy conned Shanti out of thousands of dollars and when Scotty found out he angrily broke up with Shanti. The two later reconciled and Jimmy attended their wedding. In 2009 Jimmy's daughter Rebecca announced Jimmy had run away and was in huge debt.Martha Riley
Martha Riley was the consultant that overlooked the hospital. She brought in Hone Ropata to replace Chris Warner as CEO and started an affair with Callum McKay. A rivalry broke out between Riley and Callum's wife Justine Jones and Riley was devastated when Callum decided to stay with Justine. She later departed the hospital.Kingi Te Wake was the gang member who was involved with the gang; "The Whitetails". Kingi and the gang started to get involved with Kieran Mitchell and ran several dance parties with him. However, when Kieran cut him out of the business, Kingi kidnapped him and threatened his life. Kingi met Tania Jeffries and fell in love with her but when Tania became too involved with his gang life, he assaulted her in a fit of fury. Days later an upset Kingi confessed he was an undercover cop and when he quit the gang, he and Tania were kidnapped and nearly killed. When they managed to escape, Kingi broke up with Tania, ashamed of what he had done and departed to Australia.Anja Sadovenko
Anja Sadovenko was the model who worked with Hunter McKay. She collapsed from exhaustion and drug abuse and was the cause of Hunter leaving the profession. She returned to his life in early 2009, having quit modeling in pursuit of Hunter. However, Hunter was not interested and Anja left.Olive Moronuki
Olive Moronuki was the Japanese school friend of Sophie McKay.Shobna Kumari was the troublesome mother of Shanti Kumari. She arrived in 2008 to attend Shanti's marriage to Scotty and revealed troubles in her marriage to Naveen. Following the wedding Shobna was led astray by Yvonne Jeffries and decided to stay in New Zealand. However, she and Naveen reconciled and the family returned to India. She returned in 2009 to visit Shanti and Scotty but the couple were shocked when Shobna renovated their house and announced her intention for plastic surgery. The plastic surgery clinic went broke and Shobna lost thousands of dollars before she departed again. She returned later in the year when Shanti suddenly died from illness. She helped Scotty through the ordeal and left shortly afterwards. In 2011 Shobna returned and offered Yvonne a job in Sydney. She helped reconcile Scotty with his fiancé Tracey and departed again with Yvonne following shortly after.Dr. Brooke Freeman was the elusive doctor with a hidden past. She was portrayed by Beth Allen and quickly became a central part of the soap following her high-profile romance with villain – Ethan Pierce.Grishma Kumari
Grishma Kumari was the younger sister of Shanti Kumari. She was considered by her family to be unlikely to get a husband and was increasingly displeased at Shanti's marriage to Scotty. She arrived for the wedding and departed shortly after. In 2009 Grishma could not attend Shanti's funeral as she was violently sick.Dipali Kumari
Dipali Kumari was the misguided younger sister of Shanti. Dipali arrived for Shanti's wedding and fell into bed with Kip Denton after a night of drinking. Dipali wished to pursue a relationship whilst Kip did not. She later left with her family. She returned in 2009 for Shanti's funeral before leaving again.Naveen Kumar
Naveen Kumar was the strict father of Shanti Kumari. He arrived for Shanti's wedding and was disappointed his daughter did not marry Dinesh but soon came around to loving the New Zealand culture. It was soon revealed his marriage with Shobna was on the rocks but the two eventually reconciled and departed. Naveen returned in 2009 for Shanti's funeral.Nigel Tippett
Nigel Tippett was the eccentric father of Gerald Tippett. Morgan Braithwaite suspected Gerald's parents of molesting him as a boy but this turned out not to be the case as revealed over Gerald's birthday dinner. In 2009 Nigel arrived and announced his wife Katie had kicked him out of the house and he soon began managing 'The IV' bar much to Gerald's shock. He departed after Katie took him back in. Nigel visited Gerald in hospital in 2012 and was shocked at his condition.Katie Tippett
Katherine "Katie" Tippett was the eccentric mother of Gerald Tippett. Morgan Braithwaite suspected Gerald's parents of molesting him as a boy but this turned out not to be the case as revealed over Gerald's birthday dinner. Katie later visited after returning from Europe. Katie did not visit Gerald when his heart failed in 2012 as she was in Tibet with no cell phone coverage.Kane Harvey
Kane Harvey was the leader of the 'Whitetails' gang who kidnapped Kingi Te Wake and Tania Jeffries when he discovered Kingi was a police informant. Tania hit Kane with a hammer and the two escaped. Kane was later arrested.Tupac Evans
Tupac Evans was the naive gang member involved with; "The Whitetails". Tupac was taught to play basketball by Kingi and ended up saving him and Tania Jeffries when they were kidnapped by gang members. Tupac returned months later when he was in bootcamp with Daniel Potts. The two initially clashed but ended up good friends and Tupac stayed with Daniel when bootcamp finished. Daniel's step father TK Samuels took Tupac in and taught him to box but Tupac's cousin Magic introduced Tupac to underground fighting and Daniel nearly died as a result. Tupac became involved in security work but when he began to guard Kieran Mitchell's brothel, Kieran's brother Sean framed Tupac for faulty drugs that nearly killed a girl and Tupac ended up in jail.Ethan Pierce
Dr. Ethan Pierce was the manipulative and sadistic doctor who had a past with Brooke Freeman. Ethan won the job as head of surgery and got the hospital to receive skin grafts from his bio technology company. He went into business with Kieran Mitchell and started to date Alice Piper. Ethan started to clash with several members of staff, primarily Callum McKay, Maia Jeffries and Luke Durville. Alice discovered Ethan was dating Brooke behind her back and was recording her in bed shortly before Ethan started to harvest body parts to fuel his stem cell company. He murdered an old lady and ended up killing the co owner before he attempted to flee the country, only to end up getting shot three times and killed. In 2009 it was revealed Maia was the killer and in June she began to hallucinate Ethan before finally accepting that she was a killer.