Phoenix Warner (previously Raynor) is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street.
[1] Geordie Holibar, the grandson of former Shortland Street actor Liddy Holloway was cast[2] and the character made his debut in the show's first-ever feature-length episode on 2 August 2010.
[11] Holibar departed the soap in February 2020 but was happy to reprise the role as he was "holding out hope for Phoenix's redemption.
[13] Phoenix is born to Alison Raynor (Danielle Cormack) and her divorced husband, Chris Warner (Michael Galvin).
After Alison grows sick of the American schooling system, she and Phoenix travel to New Zealand and live on a farm.
New girl Ula Levi (Frankie Adams) spreads a rumour that Phoenix is gay after he rebuffs a kiss from her, but the two later date briefly in 2011.
Phoenix is shocked when Jasmine dies for several minutes on his lap due to her Long QT syndrome and later struggles to cope with her newfound morbid personality, which causes the two to break up numerous times.
Phoenix is shocked when Chris is arrested for the murder of his school tutor, Hayley O'Neill (Michelle Blundell) and struggles to accept his protest of innocence.
In 2013, Phoenix begins to date popular schoolgirl Britney Buchanan (Eliza McKay) but the two break up after meddling from new girl, Dayna Jenkins (Lucy Elliott).
This, however, leads to near legal trouble and in November, Phoenix decides to leave Ferndale to study at a Berlin university for art.
Following the birth of his daughter Amelie, Phoenix begins to syphon money from the hospital accounts to pay back debts and invest in further artistic endeavours.
As the crimes became more apparent and Phoenix's family started to become aware, he attempts to convince Tess and Amelie to flee the country with him to no avail.
"[8] Upon Phoenix's arrival, Shortland Street commentator Throng was surprised such an interesting storyline twist had not already occurred.
[3] Hugh Sundae from The New Zealand Herald praised Holibar's acting and compared him positively to Lee Donoghue, the actor of Hunter McKay.
[14] He also stated that Holibar was already a greater actor than Ido Drent (Daniel Potts) despite only appearing in a small number of scenes.