Chris Warner
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; contrasted in a 1994 storyline where he became addicted to morphine. Known primarily for romance storyliness, Chris has been married five times and participated in over 20 romances as well as fathering six children. 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 storylines; 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, and ending up in jail after being framed for murder.
List of Shortland Street characters (1998)
Dr. Mackenzie Choat was the villainous psychiatrist who first appeared in mid-1998. Mackenzie began to date Lionel Skeggins (John Leigh) but when she discovered Oscar (Christopher Brown) had raped Minnie (Katrina Devine), Oscar framed her for fraud and Mackenzie lost her job. Oscar was found bludgeoned and an increasingly unhinged Mackenzie married Lionel before he realised she was the culprit and fled. Lionel went missing and was suspected dead, leading Mackenzie to desperately sleep with Frank Malone (Christopher Hobbs) and drug Lionel's son Luke (Greg Freeman) so he would stay with her. Caroline Buxton (Tandi Wright) realised Mackenzie was Oscar's attacker and brought the comatoze Oscar to the hospital to scare her. Mackenzie discovered the coma was fake and attacked Oscar, before exploding his hospital room and fleeing with the money he had stolen from the hospital. However, as she fled, Greg Feeney (Tim Balme) sneakily took the money, leaving her with nothing.