Chris Warner

Christopher Alexander Warner is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who has been portrayed by Michael Galvin since the show's first episode, making him the longest running original character. Galvin quit the show in 1996, but returned to the show four years later when the show underwent a revamp. In total he has been with Shortland Street for 27 of its 31 years. Affectionately referred to by fans and the media as "Dr Love", Chris made his first appearance in the show's first episode by having an affair with his aerobics instructor. This was an infamous and controversial scene. Portrayed as spoiled and from a wealthy family that inherited the hospital that was founded by his father, the character of Chris was characterised by his patronising and illicit manner, which was contrasted in a 1994 storyline where he became addicted to morphine. Known primarily for romance related storylines, Chris has been married five times and participated in over 20 romances as well as fathering six children. He has held the CEO position several times in 2001, 2004, 2006 to 2008, 2013 and since 2016. Chris was the first member of the Warner family to join the show and he was joined by half brother Guy Warner (Craig Parker). In later years, Chris became the patriarch of a family unit made up of his sons Harry (Reid Walker) and Phoenix (Geordie Holibar). Chris has been involved in several high profile and highly rated story lines; including a 1994 car crash, nearly getting murdered by his brother in law Dominic Thompson (Shane Cortese), losing his wife to his drug addicted brother Guy, ending up in jail after being framed for murder, surviving cancer and a heart attack, and a controversial abortion storyline. The character of Chris is constantly noted as a backbone and "key character" of Shortland Street and his storylines have been well received. Galvin has also been praised for his portrayal of Chris. He was nominated for "Best Actor" at the Qantas TV and Film Awards 2008. Several of Chris' romances have also been praised, with both his marriage to Toni Thompson (Laura Hill) and his relationship with Rachel McKenna (Angela Bloomfield), landing the couplings the title of the show's "Golden Couple".

Originally given the name "Chris Perry", several actors auditioned for the character in 1992, with two being Michael Galvin and his flatmate Marton Csokas. Galvin went on to win the role Csokas later went on to join the soap as Leonard Dodds in 1993. As production began, Chris' surname became Warner Paul Gittins (Michael McKenna), and Temuera Morrison (Hone Ropata). Galvin commented, "I learned a lot from Tem Morrison. When I started off I thought, 'I am going to make this so dramatic, everything is going to be so dramatic.' I had this completely inappropriate intensity. But Tem would come along and just float through the scene and he was just so much more watchable than me when it started. I'm sure people thought, 'Oh thank God it's him, because he's just relaxed and doing it – and who's that blond idiot dancing around.' You learn fast." Galvin stayed on the soap for several more years but began to tire of the role and quit, stating; "after four years on Shortland Street there was so much of me in Dr Warner I wasn't sure where he ended and I began." Following the departures of Rachel McKenna (Angela Bloomfield), Ellen Crozier (Robyn Malcolm), and Kristy Knight (Angela Dotchin), and the axing of David Kearney (Peter Elliott), in 1998 and 1999, ratings for the show dropped dramatically in 2000 and producers decided to reinvent the show to boost audience interest. Producers decided to reintroduce several old characters and contacted Galvin in London to see if he was interested in returning. Galvin was at first hesitant, explaining, "I kind of thought it would be very strange going back because I have such strong memories. It was a very intense period of my life, being on that show. I realised that most of the cast there will be completely new to me, I would never have worked with them." Alongside Galvin, it was announced that Bloomfield would also return to her role as Rachel McKenna. Galvin returned to shooting in early November 2000,

Chris had worked at the hospital as the young Surgeon since its opening in 1989 and had was settling into a new relationship with junior nurse Alison Raynor (Danielle Cormack). However behind Alison's back, Chris was sleeping with his aerobics instructor Jill Johnson (Suzy Aiken) which was shockingly revealed to the hospital when Chris missed an on call alert. He and Alison reconciled and got engaged, only for Chris to break it off to return to his ex wife, Melanie Kirk (Tina Regtien). The reunion was short and Chris and Alison continued with their wedding plans. Darryl Neilson (Mark Ferguson) had fallen in love with Alison and kidnapped Chris the night before the wedding, leading to his bride fleeing the country and leaving Chris single. He rebounded with mysterious doctor Katherine Blake (Margaret Umbers) but uncovered she had murdered her husband, leading her to run him over in her car. An intense rivalry formed with colleague Steve Mills (Andrew Binns) when Head of Nursing Carrie Burton (Lisa Crittenden) revealed Chris was the sperm donor father of her triplet children, and he had been sleeping with Jo (Greer Robson). This led to a dramatic car crash that killed Steve and TP Aleni (Elizabeth Skeen), and left Chris paralysed. Becoming addicted to painkillers in the aftermath, Chris was helped through his addiction by Rebecca Frost (Luisa Burgess) and soon regained his ability to walk. Controversy erupted at the clinic when Chris was in charge of hiring attractive new nurse Tiffany Pratt (Alison James). Many saw chemistry between the two and assumed this was the reason she got the job. Chris denied this and Tiffany proved to be a capable nurse. However the two did develop feelings and ended up married on Valentines Day 1996. Shortly after, Chris received a job opportunity in the States and left with brother Guy Warner (Craig Parker) and niece Tuesday Warner (Kelly Tate). Tiffany followed shortly after. The following year Chris and Tiffany divorced after she discovered him in bed with Alison. He and Alison end up marrying off screen. In late 2000 the clinic staff heard that a mysterious purchaser had bought the hospital and intended to transition it to the public sector. At Christmas, Chris revealed himself as the new owner and hesitantly revealed his marriage with Alison was over after he had cheated. He became engaged to Samara Hindmarsh (Jodie Rimmer) but realised she was a fraud and was saved by Rachel McKenna (Angela Bloomfield). The two fell in love but Rachel's alcoholism proved problematic and Chris had a one night stand with nurse, Toni Thompson (Laura Hill). Toni fell pregnant and Chris became a father to Harry (Joshua Thompson). Rachel was staunchly anti motherhood and her alcoholism worsened. The relationship ended and Chris started to date Donna Heka (Stephanie Tauevihi). The arrival of Chris' illegitimate half brother Dom (Shane Cortese) caused trouble when Dom manipulated Donna's step daughter into pretending Chris had sexually abused her, ended the relationship between Chris and Donna. Chris stepped into the CEO position when Dr Victor Kahu (Calvin Tuteao) resigned but was dismissed when the DHB discovered his knowledge of a euthanasia within the hospital. Chris and Toni reunited in Fiji and it was soon revealed Dom was not Chris' brother at all and he attempted to murder Chris only to die in the subsequent explosion. Chris went on to marry a pregnant Toni, who fell down the family house stairs and miscarried their child. While the couple briefly separated, Chris had an affair with the prostitute Greta Saunders (Meryl Maine), who tried to poison Toni before they reunited. Struggling in his personal life and returning to the CEO position, Chris started to suffer from anxiety. The pressure lead Chris to have an affair with Justine Jones (Laurie Foell) resulting in Toni fleeing Ferndale with Chris' brother Guy and taking Harry from him. Six months later Toni and Harry returned and the relationship briefly reunited before Toni succumbed to a mysterious illness. Chris dated both Brooke Freeman (Beth Allen) and Libby Jeffries (Fleur Saville) before finding love with Gabrielle Jacobs (Virginie Le Brun). Chris was removed from the CEO position in 2008 and returned to his surgeon position. Chris and Gabrielle's relationship broke down and Chris discovered he had a teenage son named Phoenix Raynor (Geordie Holibar) whom Alison had kept secret after they split up. After years of denying his love for Rachel McKenna, the two finally reconciled in late 2010. The two moved in together and briefly separated when Chris had an affair with a returned Gabrielle. Chris was stalked and manipulated for months by Phoenix's teacher Hayley O'Neill (Michelle Blundell) and was framed for her murder by her abusive ex boyfriend. Serving in remand prison, Chris was released 2 months later when the true killer Drew Webster (Joel Herbert), confessed. Chris had a brief return as CEO before suffering brain damage in a flying fox incident. Desperate to become a father once again but following a refusal from Rachel, Chris embarked on a non romantic affair with Grace Kwan (Lynette Forday), impregnating her. He and Rachel got married but when Grace lied about miscarrying and Chris covered this up, Rachel left the relationship. They eventually reconciled and Chris welcomed his daughter Trinity Kwan in late 2014. Rachel began to spiral in her alcoholism leading her to leave Chris and Ferndale and gifting him the CEO role. On Chris' 50th birthday he began to show signs of illness and was diagnosed with stage 3 Leukemia. Undergoing chemotherapy, Chris survived the disease after receiving bone marrow from eldest son Frank Warner (Luke Patrick). Nursed to health by Kate Hannah (Laurel Devenie), the two fell in love. Kate left Chris for her true love Mo Hannah (Jarod Rawiri) and Chris began to date her younger sister Zoe Carlson (Holly Shervey). Chris was shocked when Zoe revealed she had been faking cancer, but also that she was pregnant. The couple broke up when Chris pressured her to terminate as the baby was likely to be disabled on birth, but Zoe miscarried when she was raped by The Beechwood Beast. Chris and Zoe nearly reconciled only for his heartbreak when he discovered she had mutually fallen in love with his son Finn (Lukas Whiting). In the 2018 finale, Chris hires a private plane to fly him, the Hannahs, Damo and Leanne to his bach. However, the pilot suffers a heart attack and Chris tries to land the plane, but it crash lands and Mo has multiple injuries and Jack suffers a broken leg. Chris and Mo try to find reception to get them rescued but then Mo's injuries come to serious terms. When discovered that stranger Denise (who was on the plane with them when Leanne bailed) had the emergency phone, she threatens to shoot them all. Mo rushes her, and Denise punches him in the affected area, causing Mo to die just as the rescue plane arrives. Following Mo's death, Chris and Kate briefly reconciled but he found love with Zara Mandal (Nivi Summer), a cardiologist at the hospital. In 2020, he breaks up with Zara so she can be with Boyd, and he meets Michelle Beaufort, who he starts going out with. Meanwhile, his son Phoenix returns from Berlin with girlfriend Tess, and newborn Amelie. He is broke so Chris helps him out but Phoenix steals $1,000,000 from the hospital and does a runner to Santiago, leaving Tess and Amelie back in New Zealand. In August that same year, Phoenix returns with serious injuries and is treated at the hospital, Phoenix attempts suicide when told that Tess is engaged to Prince Kimiora, and when he got better, he went on trial for the money he stole from the hospital. Phoenix is sentenced to home detention, and Chris' friend Karl (who is also Phoenix's GP) moves in. Phoenix overdoses on pills from Karl, and dies, leaving Chris devastated. When told by Karl that he gave Phoenix too many pills, he falls out with Karl. Chris has become very sensitive and insecure after Phoenix's death, leading him to see ghosts of Phoenix often, and causes him to spiral. By the Christmas cliffhanger, he has become so overwhelmed with grief that he begins to contemplate his own life, He drinks heavily and cleans the house over and over, while talking to the ghost of Phoenix. He walks down to the beach in an attempt to drown himself, but before he can do so, he is confronted by the ghost of late friend Mo Hannah, who tells him that he has family who loves him and need him, and even warns Chris that Frank is in trouble with recently bailed cop Brady Nash. Chris runs back up to the bach and finds Frank knocked out and Brady takes him and Frank down to the basement. Brady wants to kill Frank and Chris, and when asked by Brady if he is ready to die, Chris comes to terms and decides that he wants to live. Just before Brady can shoot Frank, Chris tries to draw the gun out of his hands but is shot in the chest in the process of doing so. Chris is rushed to the hospital and amazingly against all odds, he has the bullet removed and survives the attack. He then reconciles with Karl and becomes closer to his family than ever has been before. He sets up The Phoenix Trust, a charity dedicated towards mental health. In 2022, he was in a relationship with Viv, after her abusive relationship ended with Liam's death after his company collapsed and he unsuccessfully prevented a power surge and explosion. He was caught in a retrospective lawsuit against Zoe Carlson for unfair dismissal and indecent relationship. While the case was eventually quashed due to inconsistent statements and insufficient evidence, Warner was stood down as CEO of Shortland Street, ceding the position to the initially reluctant TK Samuels. He was, however, reinstated as Head of Surgery.

Galvin described Chris as; "Highly successful in his professional life and not so successful in his personal life. He is generous and kind, but is also a snob. He always tries to learn from his mistakes but never does." However he also called Chris "positive" and noted Chris' high expectations. Galvin found that throughout the period of portraying Chris, he started to morph the character into his own characteristics, "whenever you play any role there should be as much of yourself in it as possible: you should use the role as a form of self discovery. Rather than trying to escape yourself and going, “How do people like this behave?”, try to think instead: well, what would I do if I was that person?" Following the 2012 storyline where he was imprisoned, Chris underwent a major personality change, Galvin commented: "Chris' social awareness was raised by his time in prison and, more specifically, by his friendship with Gus (Joe Folau) Having lived most his life believing he was somehow different to people like Gus, he has realised he's no better."

When viewers were introduced to Chris in the first episode that aired in May 1992, the character's personality was already highly on show, with his first scene featuring Chris having sex with a married aerobic instructor. Because of this, Chris was already known as a "playboy" by both the characters onscreen and the audience. The scene was credited as defining the character and the fast paced soap itself. Galvin believed the label was inaccurate as the character was only "sleazy" in his "first six months", Many of Galvin's co stars found the label humorous including Angela Bloomfield (Rachel McKenna) who stated, "I'm so happy I don't have to jump around and kiss half the cast on screen." Although the character participated in primarily romance and relationship based storylines, Galvin was hesitant to acknowledge himself as a "sex symbol". Though there was a purposeful chemistry between the two, producers left an ambiguity over whether the two would get together. Shortly into the character's arrival to the show, James predicted the two would eventually date, stating; "The problem is what they're willing to admit to each other. They have to make a decision about whether they're just friends."

Following a one night stand with nurse Toni Thompson (Laura Hill), Chris found himself a father with the birth of a son – Harry Warner (Callum Campbell Ross). Following a trip to Fiji the two reconciled. However the couple found life together in Ferndale a lot different than the tropics of Fiji. The relationship suffered in part to Toni's murderous brother Dom (Shane Cortese), but following his death, the two reconciled. Galvin did however believe that the main reason for the marriage was in fact the couples son Harry, "Harry is definitely the main reason. Chris and Toni's relationship up to this point has been pretty combative, there isn't any special bond between them apart from Harry (and of course the new baby on the way.) But he hopes his relationship with Toni will blossom into one of trust, and that their love will deepen." Following Chris' affair with Justine Jones (Lucy Wigmore) in 2007, Galvin believed Chris saw it as an escape, "He does actually value his marriage even though he is totally disrespecting it. It's more about trying to recapture the excitement his life had before he was married with a kid," and Galvin also thought that Chris was willing to stay with Toni, "Only when his relationship with Justine starts to threaten his marriage will he call it off." Following the revelation of Chris' affair with both Justine and Rachel McKenna (Angela Bloomfield), Toni fled Ferndale with Chris' brother Guy (Craig Parker), Harry and Guy's daughter Tuesday (Olivia Tennet). Toni returned at the end of 2007 and she and Chris were headed for what seemed to be a reconciliation, only for Toni to suddenly die from kidney failure. Hill hoped that the effects of Toni's death and relationship with Chris would be long running, "It would be nice to think there would be floods of tears for months on end I imagine Chris Warner will find someone to fill the empty bed pretty damn quick going on from past form. I think Harry will be sadder for longer. I hope so."

In episode 3111, aired 14 November 2004, Dominic Thompson gives the name "Christopher Bruce Warner" which matches the stolen license he obtained from Chris, as seen in the hand of the police officer who pulled him over.