List of Shortland Street characters introduced in 1993
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street in 1993, by order of first appearance.
Rachel McKenna
Rachel McKenna was the spoilt teenage daughter of CEO - Michael and Alex McKenna. She arrived in early 1993 as part of the McKenna family unit and has been portrayed by Angela Bloomfield for numerous stints.Leonard Dodds
Dr. Leonard Ralph Carlton Rossi-Dodds was the love interest and eventual husband to Gina Rossi. He arrived as the eccentric and clumsy new doctor in early 1993 and soon started to date the equally eccentric - Gina. However Leonard soon left to pursue research down South, and when he returned, was shocked Gina had moved on to Hone Ropata. Leonard was hired as a permanent staff member at the clinic following Chris Warner’s sudden departure to Europe. After a brief flirtation with Meredith, Leonard eventually found a home with Kirsty Knight and Stuart Neilson.The two reconciled and were married, something Leonard's best man and best friend - Lionel Skeggins nearly put an end to. Over the summer Leonard began a clinical research project on the benefits of Mānuka honey. The couple bought a houseboat and after Leonard recovered from his sea sickness, the two tried for children. Gina became obsessed with becoming pregnant, and soon feared that Leonard was impotent however tests revealed he was not the problem. Angry over being the subject of office gossip, Leonard missed the signs that Gina was suffering from an ectopic pregnancy. This led to a crisis of confidence and a shift to full time focus on research. Once his paper on the honey trial was published in The Lancet, Leonard soon received an offer for a research position at UCLA. Gina and Leonard depart in March 1994 for what was supposed to be a six month appointment in California.
The Rossi-Dodds returned later in the year as best man and bridesmaid to Lionel and Kirsty. Whilst in California, Gina had been cast in a soap opera. With her acting career taking off, the couple decided to sell their assets in Ferndale and committed permanently to living in America and left in early 1995. In late 1995 it was announced Gina had given birth to a boy named Leonardo.
The character has been named as iconic.
Alex McKenna
Alexandra "Alex" McKenna was the wife of Michael McKenna who was portrayed by Liddy Holloway from 1993 until 1995 and again for a guest roles in 1996 and 2002. Liddy Holloway, who had previously been a writer for the show, was cast as the matriarch of the new family unit, the McKennas. Paul Gittins who portrayed Alex's husband, Michael, would jokingly accuse Holloway of giving her character the best lines of the two.Storylines
Alex arrived in early 1993 and instantly got under the skin of estranged husband - Michael McKenna. Alex had a brief fling with 17-year-old Stuart Neilson but fell back in love with Michael and the two renewed their vows. In 1994 she purchased "Kennedys" bar and whilst managing it, had a brief affair with Greg Feeney. Sensing Michael was also having an affair, Alex pressures Michael to give her plastic surgery as a birthday present, and as a result of a forged prescription interacting with the anaesthetic, fell into a coma. Michael was accused of trying to murder his wife but their daughter - Rachel unveiled the truth. Alex awoke from the coma, and went on a Caribbean cruise with Michael to recover. However it was soon revealed that Alex had been left with some brain damage that resulted in her struggling to maintain her emotions and make logical decisions during peak times of stress. Returning to work, she partnered with Sam Aleni to have Kennedys operate as the nightclub “Insomnia” after dinner service. Worried about people getting into the club without paying the cover charge, Alex decided to padlock the fire escape from the outside. When a fire occurs in the club, the padlocked exit nearly kills many attendees. Alex was blackmailed over the fire and the stress resulted in Michael having Alex committed to a psychiatric clinic. Alex leaves Michael due to his lack of support and belief in her, however the pair reconciled after Michael has a heart attack at Christmas time.The couple left Ferndale for the country side in 1995. However Alex returned the following year and announced the marriage was over. She continued to run the bar and took up with the much younger - Cameron Scott. However they broke up and Alex gave the bar to Rachel so that she could attempt a reconciliation with Michael.
Two years later, Michael reported to Rachel that Alex had died whilst overseas from illness. In 2002 Rachel was shocked when Alex returned to her life and revealed she had faked her death in a ploy to escape her family. However it soon turned out Alex wanted Rachel's boyfriend - Chris' money to create a new identity and she was sent packing. In both 2009 and 2011 it was stated that Alex had died.
Ana Aleni
Ana Aleni née Tali appeared in a recurring role for several years, portrayed by Adele Paris. She first appeared in 1993 when her son Sam Aleni struggled with the truth he had defied his fate and had sex before marriage. Ana tried to recover her youngest son Nat from Sam's flat after he ran away from home. However, with help from Sam, she decided it was best he stayed. She opposed Sam's relationship to the Tongan TP but following their marriage, came to appreciate her. In 1994 she attended TP's memorial service following her death. In 1996 Ana tried to set Sam up with a family friend named Malia, but it soon became apparent to all that Sam was still not ready after the death of his wife. Ana visited Ferndale in 2014 and made it clear she disproved of Sam's young girlfriend Emma Franklin due to her belief Sam was still struggling with the death of both TP and his second wife, Alise.Kim Furious
Kim Furious was a rock star who went into Shortland Street for minor surgery. Nick had a crush on her, and when he heard she was at the clinic, snuck into her room a few times to try to meet her. The two became friends, and Kim would eventually give Nick a kiss before she departed.Jamie Forrest
Jamie Forrest was the show's first openly gay character and eventual boyfriend of Jonathon McKenna.Jo Jordan
Joanna Jordan was the innocent young nurse who was portrayed by Greer Robson from 1993 to 1994. As the clinic expanded in early 1993, additional nursing staff were needed to be hired urgently. Recent graduate Jo seemed like an odd choice until it was accidentally revealed that she was a family friend of Director of Nursing Carrie Burton.Desperate to escape from her turbulent home life caused by her mentally unstable mother and tearaway brother Mark, Jo moves into Alison’s old room at Steve and Sam Aleni’s house. At first Jo had a major crush on Steve but following a series of misunderstanding and poor timing, the two became good friends instead. Jo was soon being manipulated and groomed by the new Director of Nursing Paul Churchill. Paul’s behaviour continued to escalate until an incident in the supply closest which led to Jo making a sexual harassment complaint to both the clinic and the Human Rights Commission. Paul was fired from the clinic, however maintained a teaching role at the local polytechnic institute.
Having grown tired of Steve’s antics as a landlord, Jo moved into the spare room at Kirsty Knight and Stuart Neilson’s share-house just before Christmas. Jo grew close to Stuart after her brother was in a car crash, and start to date in the new year. Stuart’s venture into property development put a strain on the relationship, and Jo found herself developing a plutonic relationship with Chris Warner. Stuart misinterpreted the friendship, in part due to Steve believing the two were having an affair and telling Stuart as much, and pair broke up after Gina and Leonard’s farewell party - their breakup fight interrupted with the news of a car crash that resulted in Steve and [|TP’s] death. Jo soon learned that she was catalyst for the argument between Chris and Steve that caused the car crash. Stuart and Jo get back together following Steve and TP’s funeral.
In February, the Human Rights Commission commenced mediation regarding Jo’s complaint about Paul. This resulted in Paul returning back into her life as he tried to manipulate Jo into dropping her complaint, claiming that he had changed due to counselling and his wife’s pregnancy. Jo soon saw through the lies and met with the mediator. Based on the strength of Jo and [|Carmen’s] testimony, the mediator ruled in Jo’s favour resulting in Paul losing his employment at the polytechnic. By May the clinic was under new management and Paul was brought in as a Nursing Consultant to act as an interface between the nursing staff and management consultant Dr Ethan Gill, however was soon arrested for assaulting sex workers.
When old nursing school friend Rebecca joined the ambulance service based out of the clinic, Jo invited her to move into the share-house. However, Stuart had recently developed feelings for Rebecca resulting in Jo dumping Stuart once and for all. Jo found conflict with Kirsty’s boyfriend Greg Feeney when he moved into their home and used Chris to fuel his drug dealing business. When Kirsty went out of town for two weeks, Jo and Greg developed feelings for each other. When Kirsty returned, the police start investigating Greg’s involvement with a spate of drug thefts from the clinic and local pharmacies, Greg fled town but promised to return for Jo. Jo confessed her feelings to Kirsty, and despite warnings of Greg’s true nature from many of the clinic staff, Jo resigned mid-shift the day after Greg returned, and rode away together much to the shock of all the staff.