Jonathon McKenna

To widen demographic audiences, producers ensured Shortland Street featured family units so that several key characteristics could be met (middle aged parents, teenage children).[1][2] In mid-1992 it was decided to expand on the established character, Michael McKenna (Paul Gittins) (who had appeared since the show's first episode), by introducing his family.[3][4] The character of Stuart Neilson (Martin Henderson) who featured as part of the original cast, had been planned to be depicted as gay, but the plans fell through and he was rewritten as heterosexual.[5] It was decided that the character of Michael's son would fit the position. Kieren Hutchison auditioned for the role when he was 18 and eventually learned he had secured the role, much to his surprise as he considered his audition "shocking". He signed an initial 6-month contract.[6] The job was not what he expected but he soon settled in and enjoyed working alongside screen sister, Angela Bloomfield (Rachel McKenna).[7] Hutchison departed after the 6 months, but returned for several similarly lengthened stints.[6] After leaving in 1995, Hutchison scored a return to the role in 1996 and was interested at how the character's storylines and dynamics had changed following the departure of his parents.[8] Hutchison decided to take a break from the show in September 1996 so that he could film the television series, The Swiss Family Robinson.[9] Hutchison and producers intended for Jonathon to return to the soap in 1997,[10] but Hutchison decided against it and quit indefinitely.[11]

Due to living and working overseas, Hutchison became unfamiliar with Shortland Street but discovered through Facebook that his onscreen sister, Bloomfield, had returned; potentially meaning a return for his character in the future.[12] In 2010, the character of Jonathon was occasionally mentioned throughout dialogue as so the audience remained aware that Rachel had a brother.[13] Hutchison was asked to reprise the role in March 2011 as part of the build up towards the shows 20th anniversary in 2012.[11] In April it was announced that a "former cast member" would be returning[14] with the news being revealed on 12 May that it would be Jonathon.[15][16] Hutchison was quoted as saying: "It was really nice to have some familiar faces in the building. Being able to work with Angela (Rachel McKenna) and Michael [Galvin] (Chris Warner) again has been fantastic."[17] Hutchison signed on in a 6-month stint.[12] He returned on 23 May 2011.[18] The character departed on 11 November 2011.

Jonathon arrived in October 1993 after being expelled from boarding school in Australia. Jonathon's parents Alex (Liddy Holloway) and Michael (Paul Gittins) grew proud of their son after he landed the lead role in a play but were devastated when Rachel (Angela Bloomfield) read his diary and revealed he was gay. Jonathon started to date Jamie Forrest (Karl Urban) and Michael saved the two from a group of drunk homophobics. The two broke up because of Jonathon's immaturity and Jonathon departed to medical school in Dunedin. Jonathon returned when Alex fell into a coma and departed shortly into 1995 with his boyfriend Tony. He returned as a research assistant in 1996 and had an affair with Kane Taiaroa (Joe Folau) but departed to visit his father in the countryside following an HIV scare.

In 2001 when Rachel realised she was beginning to fall in love with Chris Warner (Michael Galvin) despite being in a relationship, she fled to visit Jonathon in Thailand. The following year Rachel pretended she was going to visit Jonathon when in reality she was having a tubaligation. In 2009 Rachel revealed she had lost contact with Jonathon but in 2010 she flew to Paris following the news Jonathon had been in a serious car crash. In 2011 Jonathon returned to Ferndale to seek an operation on his brain following the crash. The surgery left him blind and Jonathon fell for his surgeon – Gabrielle (Virginie Le Brun). The two started to date and Jonathon regained his sight. After several months Jonathon began to tire of Gabrielle and broke it off, only to end up making moves on Daniel Potts (Ido Drent) unsuccessfully. He returned to Los Angeles in November.

Jonathon's return was listed as one of the top 11 best things to happen in 2011 by Television New Zealand.[21] The character was later hailed as iconic.[11] The storyline featuring Jonathon's crush and subsequent love affair with paramedic Jamie Forrest proved both controversial and ground breaking. The couple's kiss became the first same sex kiss on prime time New Zealand television and the storyline even helped a closeted gay male accept his sexuality.[1] The couple's same sex relationship was at the time so controversial that the kiss was not actually shown, with only Sam's expression being witnessed.[1] Hutchison himself believed that his character helped break down stereotypes surrounding homosexuality and enjoyed playing the HIV storyline due to its meaty content.[9] Medical students also enjoyed how Jonathon represented their lives, with one saying; "It amused us when Jonathon talked about living in Dunedin, his classes at Medical School, his friends and so on. It is script for him but reality for us."[1]

Hutchison has stated that during his first stints from 1992–1995, he received much "agro" and homophobic fan mail and that after his return in 1996, it was a lot more calmed and less hateful.[8] Jonathon's storylines in 1996 were also a lot more controversial than his early plots, with Hutchison noting the characters experimentation with drugs and rocky relationships as being highly controversial.[8] Upon Jonathon's return in 2011, his sexual status was made unclear and fans were outraged when the character embarked on a relationship with female character, Gabrielle Jacobs.[10][22] Following weeks of criticism, scenes aired in June where Jonathon stated he was bisexual, contradicting comments made in past years.