Seven o’clock, every weekday, there’s only one thing Emma Hardwick will be doing. The dedicated Shortland Street watcher has tuned into almost every single episode in the show’s 20-year history – there are only three exceptions due to a power cut, a transmission failure, and the day she had to move house. That’s around 1600 hours or nine weeks’ worth of Shorty viewing over the years.
“I think I would qualify to be New Zealand’s most dedicated fan,” says the 38-year-old, who lives in Paraparaumu in the care of her mother, Vivienne (72). “I’m just addicted to it. When it goes off air for a couple of weeks around Christmas and New Year, I start to get withdrawal symptoms.”
With more than 10,000 posts on the Shortland Street online fan forum, Ferndale Talk, under her belt – not to mention the thousands of posts on other fan sites – Emma averages 12 posts on the forum every day. Her vast collection of show memorabilia includes Shortland Street paperback books published in the mid 90s, stacks of magazine articles about the cast, signed autographs and clothing.
“She wore one of her Shortland Street T-shirts until it was rags,” says Vivienne. “Every night she’s in her room at 7pm, watching the TV with her dog Buddy on her lap.” With 20 years of Shorty knowledge in the back of her mind, the devoted follower forms strong connections to the characters on the show and engages in “friendly debate” with fellow fans on the forum.
When a character is killed off, Emma admits she can get quite emotionally attached. “I was close to tears when Shanti (Nisha Madhan) died of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. “I can get quite angry too. I also created a “Bashing Chris Warner” thread because he can be such a sleaze bag.”
Through the show, Emma has made strong friendships with other Shorty watchers. “We arranged to have a meet up in Auckland and Adam Rickitt (Kieran Mitchell) turned up,” says Emma. Over the years, Emma has met many of the show’s actors, including Kiel McNaughton (James “Scotty” Scott), Lee Donoghue (Hunter McKay), Karl Burnett (Nick Harrison) and Angela Bloomfield (Rachel McKenna).
“It’s a really positive thing for her to be involved in. She’s in constant contact with people,” says Vivienne. “She would love to go to the studios one day. She goes into every competition that comes up. One day she’ll get there.”
