Throng

Spot the difference. One of these is Shortland Street's first blonde bombshell and the face that launched a thousand tea-trolleys. The other is current SS "everywhere-girl" Sophie.

Is there some sort of regression going on here? Are current characters and storylines getting too out of the ordinary, so they have to clone the past, or have we passed through some sort of wormhole in the space-time continum and its 1994 again, just no one has told us?

I was cruising TVNZ's website the other day and thought I was having a nasty turn.

On the Shortland Street site there was a face I hadn't seen in years. It wasn't Rachel, it wasn't Chris, it wasn't even Nic (though with the way they're ressurecting all the old characters, you never know).

It was former SS receptionist, wife of the beloved Lionel and the face that launched a thousand tea-trolleys Kirsty (aka the gorgeous Angela Dotchin) sultrly striding towards the camera in a cocktail dress.

Only it wasn't Kirsty. It was Sophie (Kimberly Crossman).

We've seen her as the 'every-girl', the Cheerleader (sorry, but Hayden Panettiere got there first) and, probably coming up, the 'in love with the bad guy preagnant teenager girl'. So what next? Taking on the persona of Shorty's first blonde bombshell?

To paraphrase the rather crazy looking, mascarra-running guy from Youtube a few years back: "Leave Kirsty Alone!"