Storylines of Shortland Street (1998)

This article details the storylines that took place on the New Zealand Soap opera Shortland Street in the year 1998.

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Rangi Heremaia and Donna Heka's (Blair Strang and Stephanie Tauevihi) relationship had barely got off the ground when they were dealt with the shocking blow that they were in fact half-brother and -sister! This followed meeting Donna's father, Joe Bennett (Tony Burton) in hospital. The two initially hated one another, before becoming friends again.

Dr. David Kearney's (Peter Elliott) marriage to Nurse Ellen Crozier (Robyn Malcolm) was shaken to the core when their six month old daughter Rose died of cot death. Ellen turned to Rangi in her grief and the two had an affair. David reciprocated by turning to Dr Bridget Hastings (Katie Wolfe). David supported Bridget when she was diagnosed with epilepsy).

Lionel Skeggins (John Leigh) and his estranged wife Kirsty Knight (Angela Dotchin) survived the plane crash and Kirsty gave Lionel a divorce as she had promised. Kirsty discovered evidence that Anabel Lustwick had been plotting to kill herself for years, thus proving that Caroline Buxton (Tandi Wright) did not murder Anabel but rather helped her die with dignity as Caroline claimed. Caroline was released from prison. Lionel decided once and for all that he wanted to be with Kirsty, but she was still haunted by the memory of her final showdown with Darryl almost three years earlier. Kirsty's preoccupation with Darryl's death only increased when his twin brother Damien (Mark Ferguson) turned up. Kirsty realised that she had killed Darryl, but Damien forgave her and the two fell in love. After Damien was injured in a fire, Kirsty decided she wanted to be with him, and the two left town.

Jenny Harrison (Maggie Harper) received news that her fugitive husband Dr. Ian Seymour (David Press) had apparently drowned and was devastated. However, as jenny's son Nick Harrison (Karl Burnett) shot a short film at Ian Seymour's old house with Minnie Crozier (Katrina Devine) and James Thornton (Chris Dykzeul), a number of spooky things began happening. Soon enough it was revealed that Ian had faked his death. Ian tried to convince Jenny to run away with him and she was willing to go. However Nick saw Ian and the two had a confrontation which ended up with Ian almost drowning Nick in the pool! When Jenny learned that Ian had almost killed her son, she informed the police, but Ian managed to escape once again.

Nick got a surprise when his former girlfriend Waverley Wilson (Claire Chitham) returned to Ferndale after being away for more than two years. Nick was already in a relationship with Vanessa and took weeks to decide who he really wanted. By the time Nick had chosen Waverley, Waverley's husband Roger had shown up. Waverley got fed up with her dueling suitors and ended up running off to join a tour bus company in Rotorua.

Dr. Johnny Marinovich (Stelios Yiakmis) and Nurse Tiffany Pratt (Alison James) finally got together after Tiffany recovered from the coma brought on by her hepititis C. They were surprised when Tiffany fell pregnant. Soon afterwards, Isobel Kearney (Jennifer Ward-Lealand) returned suffering from a case of post-natal depression. She revealed her son that Bradley was indeed Johnny's son and Tiffany was forced to confess that she had known all along.

Meanwhile Isobel and David's son Fergus Kearney (Paul Ellis) returned and was devastated to learn about Rose. When fergus learned that Isoobel was making plans to run off with Bradley, Fergus kidnapped his half-brother and took him to Johnny. In the end Johnny and Isobel worked out a custody arrangement. Fergus and Minnie almost reconciled, but Fergus ended up finding out that David and Ellen were cheating on each other. Disgusted, he fled town.

After learning that Jenny had aborted Johnny's child more than three years ago Tiffany became convinced that Johnny only wanted to marry her for the baby's sake. However, Johnny and Jenny managed to convince Tiffany that Johnny really did love her and the two were married in a beautiful ceremony at the Marinovich Vineyard.

Lionel had been devastated after Kirsty left town to be with Damien Neilson, but soon decided to put his life together. He bought the R Bar from Alex and renamed it Lionel's. He soon got the sock of his life when it was revealed that he had in fact sired an illegitimate son Luke, who was now 15. Lionel and Luke got to know one another, and soon after Lionel also formed a relationship with Mackenzie Choate, a psychiatrist who worked at the clinic.

1998 would be the worst year of Minnie's life as she would also be deeply affected by her sister's death, and began rebelling. However within a few months she had calmed down somewhat and formed a relationship with Oscar Henry who had replaced Jenny after she took a job down in Wellington with Marj. However, Minnie would soon begin to feel uneasy around Oscar after he made several attempts to control her appearance and lifestyle. Minnie decided that she had to break up with Oscar.

Ellen and David had realised that hey still wanted to be with one another. As David prepared to tell Bridget that he was leaving her to return to Ellen, Bridget learned that she was suffering from a brain tumour and as a result, David decided to stay with her uintil she recovered. The two flew off to the U.S. so Bridget could get treatment.

Moira's co-workers finally met her often mentioned husband Earl in 1998 at the Shortland Street Talent Quest. Soon afterwards, the Crombies fell into financial strife that necessitated Earl going overseas for several months in order to take a job. Whie Earl was gone, Moira's ex-boyfriend Dean Cochrane arrived in town. Moira was initially bitter (because he had been the ringleader in the armed robbery and had left her to take the fall for the crime), but eventually forgave him. Dean shouted the Crombies a trip to see Earl at the end of 1998.

Donna supported Rangi when he was accused of attacking several elderly women, and she helped him go on the run. After Rangi was cleared, Donna and Rangi slept together again, but then decided that their relationship was wrong. Rangi and Caroline (who was still pining after Lionel) briefly got together, but Caroline became jealous of Rangi's continuing friendship with Donna. Caroline confronted Donna and Rangi, so Rangi and Donna finally told her that they did have feelings for one another but that they couldn't be together because they were brother and sister. Caroline was understanding, but she and Rangi decided that their relationship was just a rebound thing.

Waverley returned in the aftermath of a bus crash that injured Luke. It took several months, but Waverley and Nick reconciled and decided to get married. Only one problem remained, Waverley was still married to Roger and would have to wait a while until she could get a divorce.

Mackenzie helped Minnie break up with Oscar after he blackmailed her with several pornographic pictures that he had taken of her. Oscar was enraged. Making his way over to Minnie's house, he forced himself on her and raped her. Minnie told Mackenzie what had happened, but Oscar framed Mackenzie for fraud, leading to her dismissal from the clinic. Minnie, remembering the hassles that she and her family had suffered when she had made the complaint against her teacher the year before, was hesitant to press charges. Several weeks later, Oscar stole $1 million from the clinic's takings, and shortly thereafter minnie found him bludgeoned.

Johnny was elated when Tiffany became pregnant. While trying to help a suicidal patient, Tiffany slipped and fell from the roof of a high-rise building. The accident left her horribly injured and braindead, and devastated husband Johnny had to make the difficult decision to keep her on life-support until the baby was born. Johnny and the baby left Ferndale some time later.

Cast Members

All Year Cast Members

*Karl Burnett (Nick Harrison)
*Angela Bloomfield (Rachel McKenna)
*Robyn Malcolm (Nurse Ellen Crozier)
*Katrina Devine (Minnie Crozier)
*John Leigh (Lionel Skeggins)
*Blair Strang (Rangi Heremaia)
*Tandi Wright (Nurse Caroline Buxton)
*Peter Elliot (Dr. David Kearney)
*Geraldine Brophy (Moira Crombie)
*Christopher Hobbs (Dr. Frank Malone)
*Katie Wolfe (Dr. Bridget Hastings)
*Stephanie Tauevihi (Donna Heka)

Recurring Cast Members

*Sheila Summers (Glenys Crozier)
*Paul Ellis (Fergus Kearney, recurring until November)
*David Press (Dr. Ian Seymour)
*Sydney Jackson (Vern Pratt)
*Paula Keenan (Adele Pratt)
*Jennifer Ward-Lealand (Isobel Kearney)
*Natalie Dennis (Shelley Crombie)
*Stan Wolfgramme (Dr. Stephan Isaac)
*Murray Keane (Earl Crombie)
*Christopher Brown (Oscar Henry)

Arrivals

*Oliver Driver (Nurse Mike Golloway)
*Ingrid Park (Dr. MacKenzie Choat)
*Jack Campbell (Dr. Daniel Buchanan)
*Paul Ellis (Fergus Kearney, recurring until November)
*Greg Freeman (Luke Bellingham)

Departures

*Glen Drake (Nurse Cameron Scott)
*Angela Marie Dotchin (Kirsty Knight)
*Alison James (Tiffany Pratt)
*Maggie Harper (P.A. Jenny Harrison)
*Stelios Yiakmis (Dr. Johnny Marinovich)
*Chris Dykzeul (James Thornton)

Guest Stars

*Paul Gittins (Dr. Michael McKenna)
*Katherine Kennard (Lucinda Reeves)
*Tony Burton (Joe Bennett)

Celebrity Appearances

*Lana Cocroft (herself)

Nick Fergus, Topeka KS. His childhood nick name was Tinky Tonk, based on his love of Tinkerbell and Tonka trucks.