Even Michael Galvin was surprised Chris Warner survived a bullet to the chest. Photo / Supplied
Even Michael Galvin was surprised Chris Warner survived a bullet to the chest. Photo / Supplied
He's been arrested, nearly burned alive, caught up in a plane crash, had his beach house blown up, and had the odd car crash or two, but Shortland Street's Michael Galvin said there's been one cliffhanger he was surprised Dr Chris Warner survived.
"When I was shot through the heart, I was surprised that I survived that one," he told Shortland Street - The Podcast about the 2020 Christmas cliffhanger. "I think it was the love of my son that got me through. Luckily, I've got lots of sons, so when they die, there's always another one.
"Shot through the heart. I thought, oh, nah, but I'm fine. Look at me. I love it."
Surprisingly, it was the first time Dr Warner got shot - though Galvin revealed some scenes involving guns in the 90s were reshot with knives due to restrictions at the time.
Sophie and Cece King, played by Iana Grace and Nichole Whippy, in the 2019 cliffhanger. Photo / Supplied
While Chris Warner has survived a number of cliffhangers, not everyone in Ferndale is so lucky. Speaking to host Kura Forrester on the podcast, co-star Nicole Whippy - known as Cece King- said there are mixed feelings around the cliffhangers as no one knows if they'll survive.
"The cliffhanger feels like a separate part of Shortland Street. It feels like we're going away to shoot a short film.
"The world of Ferndale as we know it for however many other days that we're not shooting the cliffhanger is suspended while we get to go off and do some really cool stuff. But in saying that it's also can be quite nerve wracking to check the scripts."
Galvin said that the script everyone wants to read is the one for the next episode after, but while the cliffhanger scripts come out in October, the January scripts have to wait
"You won't get that script for ages, so you're not sure, especially if you are one of like the seven people who are in jeopardy, it's like, 'do I, don't I last'?"
Chris Warner was part of the original cliffhanger in 1992, when Alison Raynor revealed she was potentially pregnant with Chris' baby, but Galvin said he has no memory of that as it's a bit "underwhelming". However, he said one of his standout cliffhangers was when Shannon Hudson gave birth to her and Tama's baby.
"And that was the Christmas cliffhanger and that's because they thought, 'well, why do we keep having to have something horrible happening every Christmas? Why can't we have something nice?'
"And the reason is, is because nobody came back and watched it after that. It was the worst rated beginning of the year ever after this non tragic cliffhanger because everyone thought I don't need to go back and see if so and so survived," Galvin revealed.
"It was a lovely episode. It was really nice. Yeah. But you know, there was none of that kind of who's gonna live and die."
Also this episode, the panel talks to director Ian Hughs about filming the big cliffhangers, and Nivi Summer pops in to reminisce on the rough time her character Zara Chakraborty had.
Dr Chris Warner, played by Michael Galvin, has survived the most cliffhangers. Photo / Supplied
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