whilst creating the soap what was to become, "shortland street", caterina de nave decided to write teenagers into the show so as to draw in a younger demographic. it was decided to have two teenagers, one being stuart neilson – an articulate homosexual and the other nick harrison – a drug taking rebel. the two characters were set to be heart throbs and auditions were undertaken for the roles. sixteen-year-old karl burnett whose only other experience was the 1991 film "when love comes" and high school drama classes won the role. milan borich got into the final stages of auditioning but instead landed the role of nick's best friend in the show's first week. burnett's portrayal of nick proved to be greatly different than the spunky rebel that had been envisioned and writers began to develop nick into a more comedic and clumsy character. this worried producers who were scared that the soaps only heart throb was gay and they requested the character of stuart also be rewritten to be heterosexual. the character of nick made his debut in the show's second episode on 26 may 1992.