Daniel Potts
Shortland Street character - Daniel Potts
Daniel Potts first appeared aged fourteen.
Daniel had grown up feeling he was the odd one out amongst his
friends, as his parents, Pam and Morgan, were so much older than
other kids' folks.
He always idealised his beloved elder sister
Sarah Potts
, who
was a globetrotting ED doctor during his youth.
Daniel didn't realise that this was all a lie - Sarah was
really his mother, but had been so focussed on her career that she
allowed her parents to bring him up.
Daniel discovered that Sarah was his mother which led their
relationship to become less than harmonious. Daniel chose to go to
Samoa and live with his father, Tim.
2009: Daniel returned to New Zealand as a
seventeen-year-old. He had fallen in with a bad crowd in
Samoa and his father, Tim, was at his wits end.
Sarah determined to turn Daniel around and enrolled him in Ferndale
High. Daniel is still intelligent and articulate and his main
interest is computers.
However, he also has a new appreciation for sports and the outdoors
from his time in Samoa and has grown into a good-looking teenage
boy.
Daniel enjoyed the popularity he had in Samoa among his peers and
wants the same in New Zealand. He also wanted a
girlfriend.
He tried to forge a relationship with popular local teen
Sophie McKay
.
Daniel also has Sarah's MS to contend with.
He has very little understanding of her illness and used it
as an excuse to return to New Zealand where, instead of caring for
his mother, he planned to party and enjoy himself as much as
possible.
His (then) behaviour was very trying for Sarah and her husband TK
Samuels.
Daniel indulged in some petty crime since his return to
Ferndale and a stolen MP3 player racket saw his friend Ryan injured
in a terrible car accident.
When Ryan died, Daniel's family were shocked to discover what he had been up to and instituted a policy of "tough love."
"Boot Camp" introduced him to a former gang member called Tupac
who seemed to be a bad influence on the easily led Daniel.
Daniel took up boxing and got involved in a series of illegal
fights.
He decided to move back to Samoa to save Sarah and TK from the
stress of looking after him.
However the 2009 Tsunami saw him reassess his goals and he
returned to Ferndale.
He was looking out out for Sophie McKay who recently
married Kieran Mitchell, against her friends' and family's
wishes.
At Xmas 2009, his world was torn apart once more when Sarah
separated from TK.
Early in 2010 Daniel met Loren, at Sugar cafe. They both
appeared in the Ferndale Players' production of The Importance of
Being Earnest.
In May 2010 Loren found out she was pregnant.
She had a termination and their relationship ended.
Daniel went to Indonesia for a few months to work for an IT
firm.
He returned home to Ferndale after a nasty snake-bite nearly saw
him killed.
Sarah went to Boston for a medical research job but returned in
early 2011, pregnant to TK.
Daniel shares a flat with Hunter McKay. Daniel worked as
an orderly in the hospital but got fired.
Late 2010 he rekindled his relationship with Sophie, but she
decided to travel the world alone and left Ferndale.
He had a brief relationship with med student Paige but it didn't
last long.
In mid 2011 Daniel developed a software programme for the hospital
which would have made him a lot of money in sales, but Paige's
uncle Shane Tucker denied Daniel any share of the profits.
Daniel was attracted to new PA
Lana Jacobs but their relationship never quite got off the
ground. They almost got together before Christmas but Daniel
suffered a serious head injury after trying to stop his friend
Hunter robbing a pharmacy.
Daniel has been trying to get back to normal since his head injury and even started a relationship with Lana. But it's a tough road, and he still has a way to go.
