Finn Connelly

Finn Connelly
Shortland Street character
Portrayed by Uncredited actor (1993)
Lukas Whiting (2016—)
Duration 1993, 2016—
First appearance 11 October 1993
Introduced by Brian Lenanne (1993)
Simon Bennett (2016)
Classification Present; regular
Profile
Other names Finbar Burton (birth name)
Occupation Plastic surgeon at Shortland Street hospital (2016—)

Dr. Finbar "Finn" Connelly (né Burton) 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 lead 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.

In 2016, 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's relationship was rocky, due to Esther's financial problems which she was embarrassed about. After taking a break in the relationship, Finn and Esther got back together. Finn's sister Sass Connelly arrived in Ferndale in September and Finn wasn't happy about her landing a permanent job in the hospital. Sass has since been causing trouble in Finn and Esther's relationship, with her being jealous of Esther spending time with her brother. They later broke up due to unequal socio-economic status, and how Finn is insensitive, sometime demeaning to women and also his anger bursts.

Finn and Esther got back together because Curtis broke up with Esther as he is incarcerated, and Esther was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Finn would find himself in the sights of Harper's teenage cousin Ashley (Ruby Lyon). The smitten Ashley was an avid fan of Finn's, following him on social media. After orchestrating the end of Finn's relationship with Esther, Ashley would undress and lay in wait for Finn in his room under the guise of visiting Harry and Blue. Angrily kicking Ashley out of his room and telling her sternly not to text him, Ashley began to spread a rumour that her and Finn had slept together. Finding herself at loggerheads and finding herself responsible for splitting up another relationship, in this case the relationship between her cousin Harper and Drew McCaskill, Ashley admitted to Harper that she had lied, and then apologised to Finn with Harper in tow.

On the May 29 episode, Finn, as a clinical surgeon, performed hysterectomy on Lucy Karim after she gave birth in the car trying to go to Hamilton for a new life, but after Lucy died, Finn and Ali are both stricken with guilt and anger, and on the May 31 episode, Finn, Sass and Frank received news that Chris Warner has leukemia. While Finn knew of Frank stealing money from the IV bar to repay Chris, Kylie also overheard. Knowing Eve has gone AWOL, and unable to adjust the dosage, Finn and Frank already retired to the fact that Chris could be gone. But shortly after Kylie forgave Frank, and had their wedding vow renewal ceremony at Chris' bedside, Frank had to rush back to the ward a day later to stop Chris from killing himself by increasing the dosage of his painkillers to dangerous levels.

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]

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. Retrieved September 2011. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  10. ↑ Forbes, Katherine (12 June 2011). "Outrageous Star plays away". stuff.co.nz. Fairfax Media. Retrieved September 2011. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  11. ↑ Bennett, Cath (5 July 2009). "Doctor Loves play time". stuff.co.nz. Fairfax Media. Retrieved September 2011. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  12. ↑ Ward, Tara (4 April 2016). "Shortland Street Power Rankings: Has Ferndale reached peak stud?". The Spinoff.
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