Craig Valentine

Last updated
Craig Valentine
Shortland Street character
Craig Valentine Shortland Street.jpg
Portrayed by Renato Bartolomei
Duration2004–08
First appearance24 May 2004
Last appearance2 September 2008
Classification Former; regular
Introduced by Harriet Crampton
In-universe information
OccupationHead of ED at Shortland Street (2004–08)
Brothers Brett Valentine
Wife Paula Valentine (until 1994)
Sons Jake Valentine
Daughters Scarlett Valentine
Kelly Piper

Dr. Craig Valentine is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street . He was portrayed by Renato Bartolomei for four years from May 2004 to September 2008.

Contents

The character arrived in mid-2004 as the father of the established character Scarlett (Nicole Thomson), in what was to become a new family unit for the soap. The character embarked in a steamy on/off relationship with the hugely popular Sarah Potts (Amanda Billing) in a romance storyline that lasted four years. The character's final storyline saw Craig investigate dodgy pills from a pharmaceutical company, Scott Spear, which resulted in his murder by hired thugs. His relationships often stemmed from his kind but overly protective personality, with a hugely cemented friendship with Chris Warner (Michael Galvin) and a long running relationship with the feisty Alice Piper (Toni Potter).

Creation and casting

After filming ended on the series Mercy Peak , Bartolomei decided he would stay in New Zealand rather than returning to Australia and was offered the role of a new character – Craig Valentine on Shortland Street, who was set to undergo a steamy romance with the upcoming character Sarah Potts. [1] Bartolomei decided to leave the soap in 2008, saying, "It was a very difficult decision, from an actor's point of view it's not very often that you have the security that a job like Shortland Street provides. But after four and a half years I longed for a degree of anonymity again. I'm a very private person, and given what I do for a job, the spectre of Shortland Street will invariably take that away from you." [2] The character was killed off in a dramatic gang storyline, something which producers at first thought would be "unforgivable" but which, due to Bartolomei's insistence on leaving, they went through with. [3] Bartolomei said of the storyline, "It's all a bit of fun and it's nice to see the characters away from the normal hospital setting and involved in something a little bit different," and of the conclusion to Sarah and Craig's romance, "That does get revisited but not in a stereotypical way. There is a great deal of resolution at the end for everyone concerned." [4]

Storylines

Craig arrived at the hospital when his best friend, Chris Warner (Michael Galvin), hired him to be run the Emergency Department. Craig at first clashed with Sarah Potts (Amanda Billing) before the two briefly dated. The arrival of Craig's ex-wife, Paula (Vivian Bell) and his brother Brett (Colin Moy), for whom she had left Craig, caused trouble when Brett died and Paula tried to reignite the marriage. Craig kicked Paula out and in 2005 started to date Huia (Nicola Kawana). However, he unsuccessfully tried to persuade Sarah to return to him over fiancé Andrew (Paolo Rotondo). Craig's anger problems began to destroy his relationship with Huia and when she stood him down for an outburst, he broke it off and returned to Sarah. However, while at a conference, Craig had a one-night stand with, and impregnated, Huia. Sarah broke it off with him and Huia and their child died in an explosion. Craig confessed his love for Sarah only to lose out on her to Huia's cousin TK (Benjamin Mitchell).

In 2007, Craig started to date Alice Piper (Toni Potter) and tried to stop Sarah marrying TK, but ended up escorting Sarah to the ceremony himself. Craig suffered a huge heart attack at the wedding party and was infuriated by Alice treating him like a patient. In 2008, Craig was devastated when he nearly lost Alice to The Ferndale Strangler and helped her through her post-traumatic stress before he proposed. Alice became pregnant but Craig broke it off when he realised she had cheated on him. He was devastated to learn how badly bullied his daughter Scarlett (Nicole Thomson) was and left Shortland Street for a position at pharmaceutical company, Scott Spear, where he hoped he could expose their illegal activities. However, shortly after discovering sufficient evidence, Craig was run off the road, beaten and set alight by hired thugs. A memorial service was held days later, where Sarah sang a song highlighting Craig's personality. With Craig's evidence, Scott Spear was shut down in 2009.

Reception

The character was labelled a "heart throb", [4] severely embarrassing Bartolomei. [2] Potter jokingly referred to women expressing their jealousy over her onscreen boyfriend. [5] The actor received a nomination for "Best Actor" for his work throughout 2008 in the New Zealand TV Guide Best on the Boox Awards. [6] In 2012, the character was named as one of the outstanding characters of the show's first 20 years. [7]

Following Craig's gruesome and violent death scene, which saw the character beaten with a baseball bat then set alight, Shortland Street received its second warning from the Broadcasting Standards Authority following several complaints. The warning was given because "The theme was likely to frighten and disturb child viewers, particularly because the violence – which included easily accessible weapons such as baseball bats – was realistic in the sense that it could happen in New Zealand." [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Warner</span> Soap opera character

Christopher Alexander Warner is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who has been portrayed by Michael Galvin since the show's first episode. Other than a 4-year gap as a result of Galvin's resignation in 1996, Chris has appeared near-continuously making him the longest running character on the show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guy Warner</span> Fictional character

Guy Warner is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Craig Parker in a guest role in 1992 before returning as core cast from 1993 to 1996. Guy returned for the shows 15th anniversary in May 2007 and again from December 2007 to April 2008. He would make further cameos in 2020, 2023 and 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toni Warner</span> Soap opera character

Antoinette "Toni" Warner is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Laura Hill from 2001 until 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justine Jones</span> Soap opera character

Dr. Justine McKay1 is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who appeared in numerous stints from 2005 to 2009. She was portrayed by Laurie Foell in 2005 for a guest stint before returning in 2006 as a regular character. In 2007 the role was controversially recast, with Lucy Wigmore taking over. She played the role through to 2008 and again in a guest stint in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TK Samuels</span> Soap opera character

Te Koha "TK" Samuels is a fictional character in New Zealand's longest-running soap opera Shortland Street, played by actor Benjamin Mitchell from early 2006 until mid 2023 one of the shows longest running characters

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joey Henderson</span> Fictional character from Shortland Street

Joseph James "Joey" Henderson is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Johnny Barker from mid 2007 to early 2008.

Sarah Potts (<i>Shortland Street</i>) Soap opera character

Dr. Sarah Marjorie Potts - Samuels is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, who was portrayed by Amanda Billing from her first appearance in September 2004 until the character's on-screen death in August 2014.

Daniel Potts (<i>Shortland Street</i>) Soap opera character

Daniel Joshua Potts is a fictional character in the soap opera Shortland Street. The role was originated by actor Jarred Blakiston from 2004 to 2005 and again briefly in 2007 before Ido Drent took over in 2009. The character departed in mid-2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel McKenna</span> Soap opera character

Rachel McKenna is a fictional character from the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, played by Angela Bloomfield and who made her first appearance in early 1993. Bloomfield left the role in late 1999, before returning in early 2001 and departing in early 2003. She returned in a guest role in mid-2007 and again in a full-time role in late 2009 before departing once again in late 2016.

Dominic Thompson (<i>Shortland Street</i>) Soap opera character

Dominic "Dom" Thompson is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Shane Cortese from 2003 to 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hone Ropata</span> Fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street

Dr. Hone Ropata is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Temuera Morrison as part of the original cast. Morrison maintained the role for three years before briefly reprising it in 2008 to commemorate the show's 4000th episode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huia Samuels</span> Soap opera character

Huia Samuels is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Nicola Kawana from early 2005 to late 2006. Initially a recurring character, she soon joined the core cast before being axed and killed off in a high-profile terrorism storyline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Copeland</span> Soap opera character

Jessica "Jay" Copeland is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Jaime Passier-Armstrong from mid-2004 to mid-2007. She was the show's first lesbian regular character and longtime love interest for Maia Jeffries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Kahu</span> Soap opera character

Dr. Victor Katea Kahu is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Calvin Tuteao from late 2000 to Christmas Day 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judy Brownlee</span> Soap opera character

Judy Brownlee is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Donogh Rees for 5 years from early 2001.

References

  1. ↑ Barry, Rebecca (11 November 2004). "Shortland Street finds its romantic pulse". The New Zealand Herald . APN News & Media.
  2. 1 2 "Renato Bartolomei: Why I wanted Craig Valentine dead". New Idea. October 2008.
  3. ↑ Lang, Sarah (18 January 2009). "Whodunnit?". The New Zealand Herald . APN News & Media.
  4. 1 2 "Shock ahead for Shorty fans". New Zealand TV Guide. August 2008.
  5. ↑ Lang, Sarah (1 September 2008). "Living dangerously". The New Zealand Herald . APN News & Media.
  6. ↑ "18 Best on the Box nominations". South Pacific Pictures . February 2009. Archived from the original on 23 February 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  7. ↑ "Shorty Superstars". Shortland Street 20th Anniversary Magazine. 23 April 2012.
  8. ↑ "Shortland St in trouble with BSA again". Otago Daily Times . January 2009. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.