Finn Warner

Finn Warner
Shortland Street character
Portrayed by Uncredited actor (1993)
Lukas Whiting (2016–)
Duration 1993, 2016–2018
First appearance 11 October 1993
Last appearance 1 October 2018
Introduced by Brian Lenanne (1993)
Simon Bennett (2016)
Classification Former; regular
Profile
Occupation Surgeon

Finbar "Finn" Warner (previously Burton and Connelly) is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. Born onscreen, Finn was originally played by an uncredited baby actor in 1993 before Lukas Whiting took over the role in 2016.

Creation and casting

The character of Finn was introduced in 1993 during a plot in which "robo nurse" Carrie Burton (Lisa Crittenden) fell pregnant after receiving 3 different sperm donations from central characters. This was billed as a "whodunit" with nurse Steve Mills (Andrew Binns), Guy Warner (Craig Parker), Dr. Hone Ropata (Temuera Morrison) and Dr. Chris Warner (Michael Galvin) all potentially being the father.[1] The character made his first appearance on 11 October 1993, when Carrie gave birth to him and his triplet siblings. The birth was used as a storyline to write off the character of Carrie,[1] and she departed with her triplets on 11 November 1993. In 2015 producers contacted the agents of Australian actor, Lukas Whiting. Whiting was unaware of the show, "I had to do a whole lot of research quickly, I watched a coupe of episodes on YouTube, shot what we call a 'self tape' and a couple of weeks later got a call from my agent saying you start in a couple of weeks!"[2] The character was reintroduced under a different name in 2016 in a storyline that saw him billed as "the new Dr. Love" and raised questions on his relation to Chris Warner.[3] Whiting began filming in late 2015.[3][4][5][6] Whiting appreciated being able to work alongside Galvin (Chris Warner) and Angela Bloomfield (Rachel McKenna), noting his storylines allowed him to "make good friends with some of the younger cast as well as some of the older."[4] Finn made his reappearance on 28 March 2016.

Storylines

Desperate to have children but with no stable partner in her life, Shortland Street clinic's head of nursing Carrie Burton (Lisa Crittenden) accepted sperm donations from nurse Steve Mills (Andrew Binns), Guy Warner (Craig Parker), Dr. Hone Ropata (Temuera Morrison) and Dr. Chris Warner (Michael Galvin); refusing to disclose whose sperm she used. She fell pregnant and married Steve's father Declan Kennedy (Kevin J. Wilson). Carrie gave birth to triplets during good friend Meredith Fleming's (Stephanie Wilkin) leaving party and named them, Finbar, Frank, and Sarah. Declan proved to be a useless father and ended up fleeing the country to escape criminal associates he had, leaving Steve to be a surrogate parent. It turned out Sarah had a hole in her heart and came close to death during surgery. Carrie decided to flee Ferndale after receiving threats from Declan's criminal past, taking her triplets with her and leaving Steve (who had decided the children were likely his) heart broken. Several months later Steve was devastated to realise Chris had discovered he was the father and had been visiting Carrie and the triplets in Australia. This caused a rivalry between the two that ultimately led to Steve driving off the road and dying in an explosion. In November 1995 Chris visited Carrie and the triplets so that he could introduce his father Bruce (Ken Blackburn) to them before he succumbed to terminal cancer.

Upon return, Shortland Street CEO Rachel McKenna (Angela Bloomfield) hired Finn Connelly as the newest surgeon at the hospital and he instantly turned heads for his playboy ways, landing the title "Dr. Love". On his first day on the job, Finn shockingly introduced himself to Chris as one of his long lost triplets. After his mother died, he had decided to get to know his father. After initially clashing with Rachel, Finn moved in with the Warner's and entered a love triangle, when he began to date Esther Samuels (Ngahuia Piripi) much to the annoyance of her recent ex-boyfriend Curtis Hannah (Jayden Daniels). Finn and Esther struggled due to her financial worries and ultimately she left him for Curtis. Frank's fellow triplets, Frank (Luke Patrick) and Sass (Lucy Lovegrove) arrived in Ferndale and joined him at Chris' house. Finn and Esther reunited following Curtis' incarceration and Finn found a job acting as a television doctor, winning admiration from fans. This led to the obsessed teenager Ashley Whitley (Ruby Lyon) to falsely claim he had inappropriate sexual interactions with her after he rejected her advances. Finn ended up quitting the television role when he began to be aggressively stalked, leading to the male stalker breaking into his house and touching him in his sleep. It would soon be revealed that the stalker was new orderly Jason Kirkpatrick (Thomas Sainsbury) who claimed to be madly in love with Finn. After being held hostage by the deranged orderly, Jason would be detained by Vinnie after Finn called for help upon Jason self-mutilating. Himself, Sass, and Frank decided to adopt the Warner last name moments before Chris Warner was officially tested cancer-free.

As 2017 would come to a close, Finn found himself on the end of a bunch of malicious attacks, claiming to be from "Sexy Eyes," the alias Jason had used while stalking him. Certain it couldn't be Jason, Finn would soon find out that it was the result of his sister's ex-husband Mason Coutts(Colin Moy)'s machinations from within prison. Targeted by a sniper, Frank would take a bullet for his brother, but survived. Esther was kidnapped by a former prison guard. While he continued his feud with Curtis, they eventually found her in the hospital car park, who suffered a cardiac arrest, with her condition critical.

On 4th of April 2018 Esther and Finn got married, despite Curtis claiming that he still loved Esther but she choose Finn. On April 30, Finn had been offered another chance to further his career overseas, this time in Detroit. He was finally convinced to take the offer, despite wanting to stay to comfort Frank and Kylie as Kylie suffered a miscarriage. Just as Finn and Esther were leaving the carpark for the final time, Finn's car hit Nicole, which left her with a broken femur with suspected internal bleeding. Finn was later charged with drink-driving and careless driving, along with Vinnie costing Finn his job in Detroit via a phonecall to Finn's contact. He is currently suspended from practising, and received a fine of the maximum $20,000 fine with 1-year suspension from driving, but escaped jail terms due to good behaviour references. Frustration boiling over from these events, Finn would lightly shove Esther's arm off of him while she tried to comfort her, pushing her down and injuring her hand. A day after being confronted by Esther's uncle TK Samuels (Benjamin Mitchell), Finn would wind up in an altercation with an arrogant motorist. Finn has been suspended from practising for 6 months decided by the medical council and has decided to get counselling and anger management, and is working things out with Esther after he got angry and accidentally pushed her. While TK wanted his niece to leave Finn, but did not. He decided to voluntarily work with the ambulance recruits in Ali's absence, however, he is only there to observe and provide advice, and still not perform advanced paramedic procedures.

In the month since his suspension, he illegally practised on Kylie's sister Julia and also treated a patient using advanced manoeuvres that are well beyond Mo's capabilities as a paramedic. After acting CEO, Drew McCaskill, filed an incident report to Medical Council, Finn lashed out and struck Esther, in addition to shoving her against a bench and grinding her head into it. The incident broke her ribs. On 17 June 2018, Finn ended the marriage despite Esther trying to save his career and their marriage again. On 18 June 2018, Finn told Drew that he was asked to resign from Shortland Street, initially to Drew's anger against Te Rongopai, but upon hearing Finn's second domestic abuse against Esther, Drew agreed with her decision, and offered him to work as a barman so he can replace Curtis.

On his first night on the job, Te Rongopai and Esther ironically became Finn's first customers. On the second morning, Finn burnt Damo's coffee after burning the milk due to his lack of training. That night, Jack and his med school classmate went to celebrate the end of the exams. Cody hassled Finn, but Finn decided to ask Jack to send himself, his friend Claire and Cody out. Claire later returned and wanted to buy a drink for Finn to thank him, after she kissed Jack, and things got awkward. After Claire walked out the back, she was later found by Finn with head injuries and signs of her being drunk-raped.

On 10 July, he left for Adelaide, Frank's hometown (and Luka's hometown), to attend a wedding of his old friends for 2 weeks.

Reception

The addition of Carrie's triplet storyline was praised for showing a "softer side" to the otherwise "stern matron".[7] The return of Finn and his siblings was said to "delight" Shortland Street fans.[2] Upon arrival in 2016, Finn was labelled a "hearthrob" and the show's "number one hunk".[3][5] He quickly attained the title of "Dr. Love",[8] a label formerly associated with Chris.[9][10][11] Tara Ward from The Spinoff website announced that Finn's arrival had turned the show into "peak stud".[12] Whiting had not been aware of the level of popularity of the show but came to realise it quickly, "After the first week I started to get recognised - it's quite a lot of fun - you get your good fans and bad fans but it's always fun getting photos and having a chat on the streets."[2] Actor Michael Galvin (Dr. Chris Warner) named the triplet's returns in 2016 as his favourite storyline, noting Whiting's "amazing" acting and "fun" the co-stars have on set. He also aspired for the triplet's to remain on the show for a "long time to come".[13]

References

  1. 1 2 "Chris Warner's kids". tvnz.co.nz. Television New Zealand. October 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Winchester, Bree (26 January 2017). "The move to Shortland Street: two Canberrans score roles on NZ's number 1 night-time soap". The Canberra Times.
  3. 1 2 3 Sharpe, Keith (21 March 2016). "TV Guide's Top 5 of the Week". stuff.co.nz. Fairfax Media.
  4. 1 2 "Get to Know Lukas Whiting". tvnz.co.nz. Television New Zealand. 28 March 2016.
  5. 1 2 Loughrey, Charles (22 March 2016). "Who is the new Dr Love?". Otago Daily Times. Allied Press Limited.
  6. ↑ Smith, Ricardo (24 January 2016). "Meet Shortland Street's new arrivals". Spy. APN News & Media.
  7. ↑ Perkes, Melanie (28 March 2014). "BRING BACK NICK: SHORTLAND STREET RESURRECTIONS". Yahoo! New Zealand. Yahoo!.
  8. ↑ "Quick fire questions with Shorty's Reuben Milner & Lukas Whiting". Womans Day. New Zealand Magazines. 15 April 2016.
  9. ↑ "Station to Station". Theatre Royal. August 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  10. ↑ Forbes, Katherine (12 June 2011). "Outrageous Star plays away". stuff.co.nz. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  11. ↑ Bennett, Cath (5 July 2009). "Doctor Loves play time". stuff.co.nz. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  12. ↑ Ward, Tara (4 April 2016). "Shortland Street Power Rankings: Has Ferndale reached peak stud?". The Spinoff.
  13. ↑ "Shortland Street: Inside an icon". Shortland Street. Television New Zealand. 25 May 2017.
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