Throng

Weeknights at 7pm

Things aren’t so sweet this week on the streets of New Zealand’s favourite drama. It's arguably one of Shortland Street’s most gripping weeks of 2008, when the public will be treated to a roller coaster of emotion.

For weeks now, Ferndale's favourite doctor Craig Valentine (Renato Bartolomei) has been inching closer to the unsavoury truth about international pharmaceutical company Scott-Spear. Suddenly Craig finds himself embroiled much deeper than he'd ever anticipated, when he has the proof about the dodgy drug company handed to him on a platter - by ex-employee turned whistle-blower Anthony Richards (Michael Morris). The evidence is all contained in a bound ledger, which has, until now, been jealously guarded by Scott- Spear top brass.
"The ledger is the piece of the puzzle Craig has been hoping for," says Bartolomei of his character. "He knew the ledger had the written proof he needed to bring Scott-Spear to task, but until he was handed it by Ant, he was thinking it was too far out of his reach. The issue now of course, is what the best course of action is. Craig is well aware of the power behind a company such as Scott-Spear, and the lengths they could go to to keep their secrets safe."

Confronted by indisputable facts about the business he was briefly employed by, Craig finds himself in possession of a hot dossier of incriminating evidence. Can he get it to the police before Scott Spear come in pursuit?

Meanwhile Shanti Kumari (Nisha Madhan) is involved in her own pursuit - finding her dream home. But unfortunately her idea of 'dream residence' and her husband Scotty's (Kiel McNaughton) are far from close. Scotty wants a good solid state house with plenty of room for future "Scott" whanau - while Shanti is thinking more short-term and plumps for glamorous inner city living!

"Scotty's a practical man. He already has one rental property, and now he's thinking of an investment for his future with Shanti," comments McNaughton. "Despite his romanticism, Scotty has an army back ground so he's very much a five step man. First comes love, then marriage, the white picket fence, the 2.5 kids and the dog. It's looking like Shanti may not be quite so easily swayed towards the nuclear family plan as Scotty would have thought."

With such divergent dreams, can these two hope to find any middle ground or are they destined to disaster when it comes to life under the same roof?

A combination of Ant Richards' daring, Craig's relentless pursuit of the truth and Shanti and Scotty's refusal to compromise, make this a must-see week of Shortland Street.