Whilst creating the soap that was to become, Shortland Street, Caterina De Nave decided to write teenagers into the show so as to draw in a younger demographic.

[3] Sixteen-year-old Karl Burnett whose only other experience was the 1991 film When Love Comes and high school drama classes won the role.

[4] 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.

[2][4] 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.

In 2005, after 13 years on the show, the character of Nick was axed by producers[6][7][8] alongside wife, Waverley Harrison (Claire Chitham).

Nick started to date punk girl, Serena Hughes (Willa O'Neill) to anger his mother Jenny (Maggie Harper).

Whilst Nick dated a girl called Olivia (Emma Turner), he learned that he may not be Jenny's real son, with the possibility of being swapped at birth with Adam Brady (Jeremy Brennan) arising.

However Adam was soon revealed to be mentally ill and was sent to a psychiatric ward, and Nick realised how much he loved his mum, dropping his bad boy persona.

Nick cleaned up his act and developed a crush on new girl, Waverley Wilson (Claire Chitham) after he broke up with Olivia.

They married in an unofficial ceremony and Angela gave birth to a son they named Lucas (Christopher Preece) shortly before she died.

Nick won the local bar in a poker match but was shocked to discover the previous owner Geoff Greenlaw's (Andrew Laing) dead body in the freezer.

[17] Waverley was devastated to learn Nick had married her cousin Rachel (Angela Bloomfield) during a protest on student allowance and she fled the country.

[17] Just over a year later, Nick's partner Angela Weaver (Katherine Hubbard) died, leaving him with the care of their son, Lucas (Joshua Adams).

[23] She was rescued however and the two finally married in an episode marked by the return of original characters, Jenny Harrison (Maggie Harper) and Marj Brasch (Elizabeth McRae).

[25][26] Waverley recovered and soon fell pregnant, giving birth to a daughter, Tina-Anne Harrison (Damikah Chancher) on the shows 3000th episode.

[29] Upon the show's initial screening, the character of Nick received the worst response of the original cast due to his depiction of a typical "Westie" (West Aucklander).

[30] Michael Galvin (Chris Warner) enjoyed the characters development, stating; "When the show started, people wondered what this creature was all about.

He's just great, so deadpan..."[31] Galvin and Angela Bloomfield (Rachel McKenna) later both went on to name Nick as their favourite character to star on the show.

[34] In 2002, when the actor took a sabbatical from the show, The New Zealand TV Guide ran a 'Bring Back Nick' campaign demanding that the iconic character be reinstated.

To explain his weight loss on screen, Nick was shown to eat more balanced meals and healthy alternatives replaced junk food in the hospital cafeteria.

[8] The Edge broadcaster Dom Harvey had been an avid viewer of the soap but following the axing of Nick, refused to watch another episode until he was reinstated, ultimately campaigning for his return 9 years later.