A scene from Shortland Street of a group of medical professionals wearing medical scrubs push a hospital trolley. One doctor is sitting on a patient performing CPR.
Saving lives, breaking hearts: Shortland Street is back for 2025 (Photo: SPP)

Pop CultureFebruary 10, 2025

Five things you need to know before Shortland Street returns

A scene from Shortland Street of a group of medical professionals wearing medical scrubs push a hospital trolley. One doctor is sitting on a patient performing CPR.
Saving lives, breaking hearts: Shortland Street is back for 2025 (Photo: SPP)

Things are going to look a little different this year. Here’s what to expect.

Good news, Shortland Street fans: after a well-earned summer holiday, New Zealand’s longest running drama returns to TVNZ2 and TVNZ+ tonight. Ahead of us is a fresh year of living, loving and laughing in the nation’s most action-packed hospital, as Ferndale’s doctors and nurses continue to have lives in their hands, pain in their hearts and a whole lot of hanky-panky in the supply cupboard. 

But this year, things are a little different for Shortland Street. The show will now screen three nights a week instead of five, several new characters are joining the series, and viewers can expect a different style of storytelling. Change can be hard to accept even when you are Chris Warner’s beard, so ahead of the soap’s return, here are five things you need to know about Shortland Street in 2025. 

Shortland Street is now on three nights a week

Chris Warner wears dark blue medical scrubs and a lanyard and stares unsmilingly at the camera
Michael Galvin as Chris Warner (Photo: SPP)

For the past 32 years, Shortland Street has screened five nights a week, but TVNZ recently announced that the soap would reduce to three episodes per week in 2025. It’s a reflection of the changing habits in television and a tough commercial environment, but Shortland Street has approached the change with a sense of optimism. 

Head writer Jessica Joy Wood told The Spinoff that the move to three nights a week (Monday to Wednesday) is a chance to revamp the show’s style of storytelling, and that this year will deliver more compelling drama that reaches new levels of intensity. 

“Each week, we mix longer term character arcs with shorter, self-contained stories that emerge from our medical cases,” Wood says of the show’s new direction. “We call each week a “chapter”— three episodes that build together into a complete story. You’ll get a taste of new challenges in the first episode, things heat up in the second, and it all wraps up in the third, leaving our audiences with a satisfying and engaging Shortland Street experience.”

This year’s drama will be divided into four mini-seasons

For everything there is a season: a time to be born, a time to die, and a time to introduce four “mini-seasons” into an iconic medical soap. This year’s drama will be split up into four smaller seasons, with each season focusing on one or two big storylines involving the show’s core characters. Each season will build to “an exciting one-hour episode that raises the stakes,” Wood teases. There will also be a greater medical focus in the storylines. 

The first season (launching tonight) is titled New Blood, and promises plenty of fast-paced and intense scenes, as well as new sets and new characters.

The soundtrack will showcase music from young New Zealand artists

This year Shortland Street is partnering with Play It Strange, a local charitable trust that supports songwriting for New Zealand secondary school students. The collaboration means that all music featured in the New Blood season will be created and performed by Play It Strange alumni, and will celebrate the talents of several emerging local musicians. 

Since the trust began two decades ago, Play It Strange has helped create over 7,000 songs and seen over 1,000 songs professionally recorded and released. Shortland Street’s New Blood season involves nine young NZ artists including 19-year-old Billie Carey, whose song featured during the 2024 Shortland Street cliffhanger. 

Say hello to a stranger

Three people wearing medical scrubs sit on a dark green couch and stare at the camera
Te Manawanui (Nepia Takuira-Mita), Cleo (Madeline McCarthy) and Poppy (Tessa Rao) (Photo: SPP)

With nurse Nicole in the slammer and poor old Harper now saving lives in heaven, there’s room for some new medical talent in Ferndale. Three new staff have joined Shortland Street hospital for the New Blood season: Dr Cleo Atwell (Madeline McCarthy), Dr Poppy Achari (Tessa Rao) and nurse Te Manawanui (Nepia Takuira-Mita), while ambulance officer Logan (Carlos Muller) returns to Ferndale. How will they fare entering an ED that is still reeling from the tragic events of 2024 – and will they ever top Conan O’Brien’s majestic medical cameo

Let’s recap last year’s dramatic ending

Speaking of majestic, the climatic 2024 cliffhanger delivered a deadly dose of drama that will have ramifications for this year’s storylines. In last year’s final episode, Drew and Harper fought for their lives after a motorcycle accident, with Harper carking it in the hospital she loved more than a hot poonami through her hallway. Harper’s best pal Nicole confessed to murder and was hauled off to jail by Siale from The Traitors NZ, leaving Nicole’s sad wife Maeve to be even sadder, while a naughty Esther was fired as hospital CEO. 

As for Chris Warner? He had an unexpected family reunion when his brother Guy flew into town, accompanied by three of Chris’ sons – including double-murderer Harry. Guy announced that Chris was no longer trusted with the squillions of dollars in the family trust, which means all he has left are some magnificent follicles and an attitude that just won’t quit. Could this mean Chris Warner will have to survive on Vegemite on toast like the rest of us? Good luck to one and all.

Shortland Street returns to TVNZ2 on Monday 10 February at 7pm and streams on TVNZ+. 

Keep going!
Four television screens showing Rose Matafeo hosting Taskmaster, Jono Pryor on a Breakfast couch, a Disney poster for Encanto Māori and Melanie Lynskey looking concerned

Pop CultureFebruary 10, 2025

New to streaming: What to watch on Netflix NZ, Neon and more this week

Four television screens showing Rose Matafeo hosting Taskmaster, Jono Pryor on a Breakfast couch, a Disney poster for Encanto Māori and Melanie Lynskey looking concerned

We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+.

If you love homegrown comedy: Vince (ThreeNow, February 13)

In Three’s brand new comedy series Jono Pryor plays Vince, a self-centred TV host whose career crashes and burns after an on-air mishap at a children’s hospital fundraiser. Embarrassingly inspired by true events (Pryor told My Life in TV that he was once pantsed at Christmas in the Park), the down-on-his-luck host embarks on a riotous quest to repair his reputation while learning to be a better person and father. Directed by Westside’s David de Lautour, Vince looks to be a comedic rollercoaster – complete with a few local celebrity cameos.

If you enjoy family-friendly TV: Junior Taskmaster (TVNZ+, February 13)

You shouldn’t mess with perfection, but Junior Taskmaster has and it’s “hilarious, charming and hugely fun.” Replacing Greg Davies as the show’s figurehead is our very own Rose Matafeo, who hosts alongside Mike Wozniak in this pint-sized spinoff of the beloved comedy game show. Introduced in weekly heats, tween competitors go head-to-head in an array of fiendishly tricky tasks that put their problem-solving skills to the test as they vie to win Matafeo’s golden head. Expect plenty of hilarious meltdowns – à la James Acaster – in this show that is tailor-made for the whole whānau.

If you like meaty mystery-thrillers: Yellowjackets (Neon, February 14)

Season three of the hotly-anticipated Yellowjackets is upping the ante, diving even deeper into the twisted aftermath of an ill-fated plane crash that left its survivors with more than just physical scars. Starring our own Melanie Lynskey alongside new guest stars Hilary Swank and Joel McHale, the trauma of the past refuses to stay buried, manifesting in new horrors that blur the line between reality and madness. The new season of Yellowjackets has been called “gruesome, gripping and blackly comic”, and looks ready to eat your heart out.

If you enjoy feel-good fairytales: Encanto Reo Māori (Disney+, February 14)

Building on the success of The Lion King Reo Māori and Moana Reo Māori, Encanto Reo Māori is Disney’s latest film to be re-released entirely in te reo Māori. The film beautifully merges Colombian and Māori cultures in a vibrant celebration of ahi kā, a pā where the Madrigals and their magic burns bright. Featuring local talent Hinetu Dell and Te Waimarie Ngatai-Callaghan, alongside stunning visuals and toe-tapping songs, this enchanting fairy-tale is a must-see. Gather your whānau, and experience the magic of Disney like never before.

If you love genre-bending blockbusters: The Gorge (Apple TV+, February 14)

Notorious horror director Scott Derrickson is at the helm of The Gorge, Apple TV’s first big original film of the year. Miles Teller (Top Gun: Maverick) and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit) play two highly-trained operatives appointed to opposing guard towers on the side of the titular gorge. For 365 days, and without help from the outside world, the operatives must protect humanity from the mysterious evil that lurks within. A high-action blend between Hitchcock’s Vertigo and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense, The Gorge is set to be your next guilty pleasure.

Pick of the Flicks: Lean on Pete (TVNZ+, February 15)

British writer-director Andrew Haigh broke hearts with the critically acclaimed queer drama All of Us Strangers, but his previous feature, the devastating coming-of-age western Lean on Pete is an underseen gem. Produced by A24, the film follows Charley (Charlie Plummer), a lonely and impoverished teenager who befriends an ageing racehorse after being uprooted to Portland, Oregon. When he learns that the horse is bound for the glue factory, Charley rescues him and together they embark on a journey across the new American frontier. Described as an “equine epic” that “is as comforting as a country ballad” Lean on Pete is sure to make your soul swell.

The rest

Netflix

Surviving Black Hawk Down (February 10)

The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep (February 11)

Honeymoon Crasher (February 12)

La Dolce Villa (February 13)

Cobra Kai S6 P3 (February 13)

The Exchange S2 (February 13)

Love Is Blind S8 (February 14)

I Am Married…But! (February 14)

Love Forever (February 14)

Melo Movie (February 14)

Valeria S4 (February 14)

TVNZ+

Romesh Ranganathan’s Parents’ Evening (February 10)

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (February 10)

Universal Soldier (February 11)

House At The End Of The Street (February 11)

Travel Guides Australia S7 (February 11)

Dream Horse (February 11)

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (February 11)

The Big Fat Quiz Of Everything (February 12)

The UnXplained With William Shatner (February 12)

Into The Badlands S1-S3 (February 12)

Junior Taskmaster (February 13)

Heavy Weight With David Letele – Tipping The Scales (February 13)

Bad Boyfriends (February 13)

Invisible Boys (February 14)

50 First Dates (February 14)

House Of Gucci (15 February)

Hercules (15 February)

Apocalypse Now Redux (15 February)

Lars And The Real Girl (15 February)

Lean On Pete (15 February)

Night School (February 15)

Lockerbie: A Search For Truth (February 16)

ThreeNow

Vince (February 13)

Lethally Blonde (February 15)

Neon

Batwheels S2 (February 10)

Good Luck Chuck (February 10)

Love Me If You Dare (February 11)

Life As We Know It (February 12)

Expedition Unknown S9 (February 12)

Two Weeks Notice (February 13)

Selena + Restaurant S1 (February 13)

What Am I Eating? With Zooey Deschanel S1 (February 13)

Yellowjackets S3 (February 14)

Law Abiding Citizen (February 14)

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (February 15)

Thief Lord (February 15)

The 4.30 Movie (February 16)

Prime Video

Real Madrid: Como No Te Voy A Querer (February 10)

50,000 First Dates: A True Love Story (February 11)

My Fault: London (February 13)

Disney+

Harlem Ice: Miniseries (February 12)

Love of My Life (February 12)

Umami (February 12)

Shuffle of Love: A Descendants Short Story (February 13)

Encanto Reo Māori (February 14)

Young Sheldon S1-S7 (February 16)

Apple TV+

The Gorge (February 14)

Goldie (February 14)

Hayu

Hayu Hot Seat: Ashley Darby (February 10)

Summer House S9 (February 13)

Little Women Atlanta S1-S6 (February 15)

Acorn/AMC+/Shudder

The Dead Thing (AMC+, Shudder, February 14)

Slumber Party Massacre (Shudder, February 10)

DocPlay

The Bowraville Murders (February 10)

Aquarius (February 13)