The New Zealand-based medical soap was periodically available on UK TV two decades ago. STV has added the soap to its streaming service, joining classic episodes of Brookside.
- Three new episodes per week on STV Player.
- Follows the success in offering Brookside to users.
- Shortland Street was once shown in some ITV regions.
An iconic New Zealand medical drama that has become a national institution in its native country is set to launch in the UK on free streaming service, STV Player.
Shortland Street is New Zealand’s longest-running drama, having first broadcast in the country in May 1992 and aired continuously since then on state broadcaster, TVNZ.
STV Player is the first-ever UK streaming service to air brand new episodes of Shortland Street in line with its New Zealand broadcast, meaning new UK fans can join the already well-established fan community down under and discuss all the drama and developments on social media in real time.
Three new episodes of Shortland Street will land on STV Player every Monday from 17th February.
Following its annual festive break, Shortland Street has been revamped for 2025 with a number of new characters, fresh storylines and even more heart-thumping drama – making now the perfect jumping-in point for UK viewers who haven’t seen the show before.
STV says it hopes it will fill the gap in the TV market left by the axing of BBC soap Doctors last year.
Shortland Street’s absence from UK screens
Shortland Street – or “Shorty” as it’s affectionately known by fans – has aired sporadically in the UK since its inception. STV says no current episodes have aired in the country since 2010.
For a time around the late 1990s and early 2000s, some ITV regions screened episodes each afternoon or early evening. These were dropped as regional ITV schedules were harmonised to create a single ITV1.
How to access STV Player (click or tap to view)
STV Player is available throughout the UK.
It is available as an app on:
- Amazon Fire TV,
- Apple TV,
- Freesat third generation receivers (support for 2nd gen Humax boxes ending),
- Freeview Play (not pre-2016 models),
- Freely,
- Google TV,
- NOW and Roku streaming devices,
- Samsung smart TVs,
- Sky (Sky Q, Sky Glass, Sky Stream),
- Virgin Media (V6, TV360 and Stream),
- YouView/EE TV.
…as well as on Android and Apple smartphones and tablets.
If you live in Scotland, you’ll also see programmes from STV’s channel 3 service (in lieu of ITVX). Outside of Scotland, you’ll have access to all of STV’s box sets and imported programmes, including Shortland Street.
It’s returning to UK screens as part of STV Player’s new deal with distributor, All3Media International. An earlier deal saw STV Player become the first streaming service to relaunch much-loved British soap, Brookside, from the very start, with five classic episodes landing on the platform every Wednesday.
Shortland Street was conceived by TVNZ in the early 1990s as a response to the then lack of homegrown content airing on the channel and to try to replicate the huge success of Australian soap, Neighbours. It has since grown to become one of the country’s most culturally and economically important TV series, creating some of the all-time biggest ‘watercooler moments’ on New Zealand TV and building the infrastructure on which many other New Zealand productions are based.
The show has been a training ground for dozens of Kiwi stars who’ve gone on to enjoy major international screen success, including Martin Henderson (Grey’s Anatomy, Virgin River), KJ Apa (Riverdale), Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit, Last Night in Soho), Robyn Malcolm (After the Party, Outrageous Fortune), Karl Urban (Star Trek, The Boys) and Temuera Morrison (The Mandalorian).
Corporate comment
Richard Williams, Managing Director of Digital, STV said:
In New Zealand and several other international territories, Shortland Street has become a cultural phenomenon, so it’s a major coup for us to be able to make STV Player its UK home. The show is a magical blend of ‘just-one-more-episode’ drama, good-natured humour, warmth and topicality – everything we know STV Player viewers look for when choosing their next TV obsession.
With Doctors concluding last year, there’s a gap in the telly market for a regular medical drama. We think Shortland Street has all the ingredients to not only fill that void, but also find its own distinctive place in viewers’ hearts among the British and Australian soaps they already know and love.
By: Marc Thornham | Image: STV