Kirsty and Lionel were never far from the drama at Christmas time.
You would think they would have learnt by now: when the Christmas decorations go up around Shortland Street, the best thing to do is leave town.
The show’s end-of-year cliffhanger episodes have become the stuff of Kiwi TV legend. Whether it’s runaway trucks, plane crashes, romantic dramas, fire or just crime and catastrophe, every December, fans are left wondering who will make it through to see the new year.
As this the show gets ready to wrap for 2025 – the first year it has screened just three nights a week – we look back at some of the highs and lows of Ferndale’s festive seasons past.
Once upon a time, Shortland Street used to screen through the holidays and like many family get-togethers, Christmas was never short of carnage.
This disaster was the one that started the legend of the Shorty Christmas cliffhanger off with a bang. Or a crash, to be precise, as a truck zoomed through the hospital’s front wall, driven by a patient’s father who’d been pushed too far by villainous nurse Carla (Elisabeth Easther).
Fan faves Kirsty Knight (Angela Dotchin) and Carmen Roberts (Theresa Healey) were among the injured, and while a knock to Kirsty’s head meant she forgot her marriage to Lionel (John Leigh), Carmen escaped unscathed – or did she? The new mum of baby Tuesday dropped dead on Christmas Day in what became one of the most emotional moments in the show’s short history. We can still hear the sobbing 30 years on.
With the “Chrissy Cliffy” now a firm festive TV tradition, the last episode of 1997 really did set the bar for the end-of-year epics that followed and proved Shorty St writers weren’t afraid to push the envelop, even at 7pm.
The passionate romance between paramedics Donna Heka (Stephanie Tauevihi) and Rangi Heremaia’s (Blair Strang) came to a screaming halt when they discovered they were half-brother and sister. (Don’t worry, fast forward things and it turns out they were not actually related).
Meanwhile, after agreeing to euthanise friend Annabel Lustwick (Jordie Dorday) at her request, nurse Caroline Buxton (Tandi Wright) was sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder.
And, in a spectacular final flourish, the small plane carrying Kirsty and Lionel took a nose dive into the bush. Those two really couldn’t catch a break, could they?
The explosive Christmas week (yes week!) started with the first of many attempts on Chris Warner’s (Michael Galvin) life by Jack Hewitt (Manu Bennett), a disappointed suitor of Rachel McKenna (Angela Bloomfield).
Although his bid at love failed, Jack kidnapped Rachel and tried to stage a creepy mock wedding. Ah, so festive, so romantic. Would Chris get to Rachel in time?
Meanwhile, Nick Harrison (Karl Burnett) declared his love for Waverley Wilson (Claire Chitham) in a moment of actual romance and Barb Heywood’s (Annie Whittle) Christmas party turned to tragedy when her son Marshall’s (Paul Reid) illegal garage drug lab exploded.
After six months of murder and mayhem, Christmas 2007 finally unmasked the elusive Ferndale Strangler. Likeable nurse Joey Henderson (Johnny Barker) was revealed as the duplicitous serial killer, with viewers left wondering if nurse Tania Jeffries (Faye Smythe) was going to see 2008 as Joey prepared to strangle her with an IV line.
Meanwhile, Chris Warner was up to his blond bib in drama once again, finally tracking down his runaway wife Toni Thompson (Laura Hill), along with Chris’ drug-addicted brother Guy (Craig Parker), and each of their children.
As Chris prepared to take everybody back to town, Guy bolted with Toni and the kids, only for his car to be found twisted and mangled on the side of the road, with Chris unsure whether any of his family had survived…
There was one doctor set on causing trouble this Christmas.
Suffering from a severe case of Hero Syndrome, Josh Gallagher (Chris Tempest) secretly rigged the deck of the Warner bach to blow up, just so old Mr God Complex could swoop in and save the day.
Josh’s plan was foiled by TK Samuels (Benjamin Mitchell) and Roimata Ngatai (Shavaughan Ruakere), but moments too late.
The deck blew to smithereens, leaving the fate of countless Shortland Street favourites uncertain.
One of the most intense cliffhangers of all time, Shortland Street went movie-length with this finale that left viewers reeling as the hospital was besieged by an armed gunman.
While the day was marked for celebration with Harper Whitley’s (Ria Vandervis) wedding to Boyd Rolleston (Sam Bunkall), the violent Gareth Hutchins (Jarrod Martin) had other plans. Next thing you know, the Armed Offenders Squad is storming the hospital and countless shots are ringing out. Never a good sign.
Meanwhile, a left-for-dead Drew McCaskill – already shot twice, and who will eventually marry Harper himself – stirred from unconsciousness to see a mystery gunman pick up the discarded weapon and shoot him a third and final time.
Ferndale burned in Shortland Street’s final week of 2022, as an out-of-control wildfire blazed towards the hospital.
Chaos reigned as the hospital lost power, and the action duo we didn’t know we needed, Chris Warner and TK Samuels (Benjamin Mitchell), attempted to evacuate as the flames drew closer.
Meanwhile, megachurch leader Rebekah Anderon (Antonia Prebble) used the chance to take matters into her own hands and beat the rogue pastor Scott (Jaxin Hall) to death with a fire extinguisher. Peace on earth and all that.
While (almost) everyone managed to escape the flames, viewers were left with the haunting final image of the staff watching helplessly as their beloved hospital succumbed to the flames.
The end of 2024 sealed the fate for several long-running Shortland Street characters.
It was a typically dramatic Warner Christmas when Chris finally came face-to-face with his double-murderer fugitive son Harry (Xander Manktelow), along with a family entourage of Chris’ brother Guy and sons Finn (Lukas Whiting) and Frank (Luke Patrick).
After a tense reunion, and a photoshoot for their multi-generational boyband album cover, Harry was remanded to police custody.
Meanwhile, Harper Whitley and Drew McCaskill prepared to ride off into the sunset and begin a new life overseas ... until their motorcycle crashed, and Harper died.
And justice caught up with Nicole Miller (Sally Martin), who although found not guilty of the murder of Louisa Gunnell (Chelsea McMillar), suddenly remembered the night of the killing – and bashing Louisa over the head to rescue her grandson – and turned herself in.
As for what’s going to happen this year, that’s anyone’s guess ... except for the weather forecast, based on this first-look photo.
What we do know is that virus has been doing the rounds of Ferndale – maybe someone else is going to catch it and not make it through?
Or will the murderous Hendrix claim another victim is in his misguided (perhaps an understatement there!) attempt to cement his relationship with Poppy?
And don’t get us started on the baby dramas of Monique, Naz, Esther and Marty ...
What we do know is there are some bog stunts involved this year.
“It was great fun for me to play,” says Michael Galvin.
“I know we’ve said this before, but honestly the stunts that we did are our best yet. The art department really outdid themselves and created something truly impressive. Unfortunately I can’t say much more than that! But let’s just say a much-loved Shorty set undergoes a massive transformation in the worst possible way …”