The 5 Most Jaw-Dropping Shortland St Cliffhangers

2008

2008’s Christmas cliffhanger was the beginning of a murder mystery that kept Shorty St fans on the edge of their seats. Since his arrival as Shortland Street's new Head of Surgery, Dr Ethan Pierce had made very few friends and collected a number of enemies.

In the cliffhangers final moments, an unseen gunman (or gun-woman) confronted Ethan in his apartment as he was packing his bags to leave town. Before he could leave he was shot three times and fell, bleeding on the ground. But when viewers tuned into Shortland Street’s return in January, they realised they would have to wait weeks to find out who the killer was.

2011

Fueled by his meth addiction, Hunter agreed to rob a pharmacy with his druggie friend Bailey for ingredients for drugs. Aware that Hunter had a drug problem, Jill and Daniel tracked Hunter down to the pharmacy with a stolen cellphone.

Hunter's surprised by their arrival, but Bailey reacted by knocking Daniel unconscious. Hunter hurried to aid Daniel as Jill enters the pharmacy. They try to call for an ambulance, and Bailey makes his getaway as a security guard arrives.

Frightened, the security guard reacts when Hunter tries to follow Bailey, slashing at him with a knife. Jill gets in the way and is stabbed. Beyond distraught, Hunter waits for help to arrive as he holds a bleeding Jill in his arms.

2013

Shortland Street ended its year with a bang (literally) during an hour-long finale. It had been revealed prior to the finale that three characters would meet their demise.

The tension was at a high as Josh Gallagher rigged a bomb at the Warner family Christmas party - the apparent plan being that he could save some lives and redeem himself after a stint in jail. The explosion destroyed part of the Warner's bach and left the fate of a number of major characters, including the show's long-running couple Chris Warner and Rachel McKenna, to be revealed when the show returned the following year. 

2016

The 2015 Christmas cliffhanger started innocently enough as surgeon Boyd Rolleston prepared to wed doctor Harper Whitley.

But celebrations turned to turmoil when disgruntled Gareth Hutchison returned to Shortland Street hospital in order to exact his revenge on Dr Drew McCaskill.

When the shooting becomes a hostage situation Murray Cooper's father Len is shot and killed.

Drew is presumed dead after being hit once by a bullet fired by Gareth and again when a mystery shooter appears, wielding the same weapon.

2007

We saved this one for the last because it has to be considered the biggest, most shocking cliffhanger in Shortland St history. 

After a nail-biting six months of murder, the Ferndale Serial Killer was finally revealed as popular nurse Joey Henderson. Viewers were left to wonder if Tania Jeffries would be going the same way as Claire, Meg, Jay, Beth and Brenda as Joey cornered Tania and prepared to strangle her with an IV line. 

The identity of the 'Ferndale Strangler' was such sensitive material that South Pacific Pictures made three alternative endings to the 2007 season - in order to protect the secret of who the killer was from the public, as even the actors did not know for sure.