Kieran Mitchell: a story, a scandal, a scoundrel
As we build up to the 90 minute feature length episode on Monday August 2nd , we look back at Kieran Mitchell's story on the street so far...
2007
A mysterious British backpacker by the name of Kieran Mitchell
crashed (literally) into Claire Solomon's (Emily Robins)
life.
Feeling guilty for causing him to crash his motorbike and injure
himself, Claire offered to help him out.
But it soon became apparent that Kieran Mitchell had memory loss
and a rather unsavoury past that was intent on coming back to haunt
him.
The mystery of just who Kieran Mitchell was became the pivotal
focus for many at
Shortland Street when he first
arrived, especially romantic interests Libby Jeffries and Claire
Solomon who were equally intrigued by this handsome stranger.
Kieran was sometimes charming and at other times incredibly
volatile and both girls were quickly attracted to this heady
combination of enigma and underlying danger.
Kieran had a secret affair with Claire but opted for Miss prim and
proper, Libby Jeffries to establish an above-board relationship
with.
Kieran had been suffering from a serious brain injury, from a
severe beating he had received in Thailand.
It unfolded that Kieran had lived an unsavoury life in Thailand,
working as a minder for a group of Thai prostitutes.
The arrival of a mysterious woman from his past, Suchin,
complicated things further.
She was part of his former life and arrived wanting money
that she believed he owed her.
She later revealed that she and Kieran had been in a relationship
and together had hatched a plan to defraud their employers and
escape to Thailand.
But when they were tracked down, Kieran was beaten within an inch
of his life and Suchin was forced to run.
Then, Claire Solomon was found dead in the rubbish skip outside the
hospital.
Kieran was immediately a suspect because of his previous
relationship with Claire and because he had no alibi for where he
was at the time of the murder.
The pressures of his former life and a mountain of problems
including Libby dumping him when she discovered the secrets of his
past life, Claire's death (at the hands of serial killer Joey
Henderson) and the stress of being a suspect, led Kieran's brain to
explode - literally.
He had brain surgery which appeared to have restored him back to
normal.... or did it?
2008
Kieran put two and two together and realised that his
flatmate Joey Henderson was the Ferndale killer.
He was able to help the police track Joey to the top of the
storage-sheds where he almost beat Joey to a pulp.
Joey jumped to his death.
Kieran went into business with local gang, the Whitetails and
surgeon Ethan Pierce.
Kieran's illegal dance parties and dodgy money laundering saw him
becoming firmly entrenched in the criminal underworld.
Kieran discovered the true extent of Ethan's body part laundering
deal.
Despite repeated attempts to bail out of the business, Ethan kept
Kieran exactly where he wanted him so Kieran hired a hitman to take
Ethan out.
However, someone else had the same idea and shot Ethan before
Kieran's hitman could do the job.
2009
Kieran expanded his business empire and took over the
hospital cafeteria.
Here he developed a special relationship with school girl Sophie
McKay. Despite his best intentions to keep away from her, Kieran
eventually couldn't deny the strong attraction he felt for
her.
He proposed to her, much to the dismay of Sophie's family who
thought he was far too old and far too dodgy for their precious
daughter to be with.
Kieran went into business with Scotty's sister, Rebecca,
providing a venue and security for her brothel.
Kieran's brother, Sean 'Sid' Mitchell arrived in Ferndale, much to
the surprise of Kieran.
Sean is the youngest of four Mitchell boys. Sid Junior, the
third child, died in infancy.
Kieran and Sean were once very close, but Sean felt that Kieran
abandoned him when he left the UK and now harboured intense
resentment towards his brother.
Kieran organised the purchase of the I.V with Sean, the brother he
thought he could trust.
Sean obtained Sid Junior's birth certificate and forged
documentation in order to get a British passport in Sid's name with
Sean's face on it.
Sean opened an English bank account and helped Kieran channel his
ill-gotten gains through it to purchase the bar.
This was supposed to be the end of it, with Sean earning a fee for
his effort.
But Sean now had something over Kieran and was determined to make
the most of it.
Sean took his dead brother Sid Junior's identity and came
out to NZ to capitalise on it.
At the 2009 Christmas party, Sean threatened to burn the IV down
after Kieran refused to do more illegal business activities
with him.
In his haste to follow Sean, Kieran borrowed Rachel McKenna's car
(with drunken Rachel in it) and sped toward the bar.
Momentarily distracted, Kieran swerved and hit pedestrian Morgan
Braithwaite.
When he realised the consequences of his actions, Kieran put Rachel
in the driver seat and framed her for murder.
2010
Kieran attempted to marry his sweetheart, Sophie McKay only to be
interrupted by Libby Jeffries who had found incriminating evidence
that placed Kieran at the scene of Morgan's death.
He was arrested. Sean took the rap for the murder and then
with the help of Kieran, managed to escape the country.
Estranged from wife Sophie, Kieran was blackmailed by a
mysterious newcomer called Jane who discovered his involvement in
Morgan's murder.
Sean had revealed all to her during a drug-fuelled party in
Thailand.
Seeing an opportunity, Jane arrived in NZ intent on taking Kieran
for everything he had.
Instead, they teamed up, setting up a scam deal that earned
them hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Kieran insisted Jane take her money and leave Ferndale, but she
returned weeks later, severing any hope of Sophie and
Kieran reuniting.
With nothing left, Kieran decided to sell up the bar and leave
Ferndale.
But a face from his past wanted him to do one more job. Kieran
heard from the police that his brother Sean had been found murdered
in Thailand.
Grieving outside his bar, he was abducted and taken to a deserted
container where he came face to face with White Dragon, his nemesis
from Thailand.
White Dragon was sent to torture and kill Kieran. When Kieran
refused to bow to torture and beatings, White Dragon produced Sean
- he was still alive but badly beaten.
The two brothers managed to escape but dragged an unwitting Gerald
and Nicole into the chase.
Eventually they got the better of White Dragon and his hench man
but as Kieran and Sean dangled precariously over a cliff, Gerald
desperately tried to save them both.
Kieran confessed to being Morgan's murderer and wrenched his arm
away from Gerald, falling to the rocks below.
Watch exclusive behind-the-scenes video from the making of our
special episode.
Check our TVNZ Ondemand page each night this week (scroll down to Video Extras) for our 90 minute event.
