This story was originally published on The Spinoff.
This year, Shortland Street has rewritten its own rules. After falling advertising revenue saw the long-running series reduce to three episode a week in 2025, the show returned to our screens last month not as a soap about the lives and loves of a community of people living in Ferndale, but as a bold and confident medical drama set entirely within the hospital walls.
Shortland Street head writer Jessica Joy Wood told The Spinoff earlier this year that the show wanted to deliver more compelling drama with new levels of intensity, and would focus more on medical cases that unfold across the week. The result is a fast-paced series with stylish camerawork that darts around the ED as overworked staff rush to save lives. Doctors spend scenes rattling off medical terminology, patients deal with life-changing diagnoses, and a soundtrack of up and coming New Zealand artists gives the show a contemporary, edgy feel.