Tama Hudson is a fictional character on the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand Prime time, prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital. The show was first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992 and is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, be ...

'' who was portrayed by

David Wikaira-Paul David Wikaira-Paul (born 30 January 1985) played Tama Hudson on New Zealand television series Shortland Street. He joined the cast of Shortland Street in 2001 to play fresh-faced 14-year-old Tama Hudson, a high school student. Wikaira-Paul ha ...

from 2001 to 2006.

Creation and casting

In 2000 an Australian consultant made several large changes to the show that would see a more working class hospital portrayed. Tama, his parents Joe and

Te Hana Te Hana is a small town on near the northern boundary of Auckland. Wellsford is to the south, and Kaiwaka is northeast. Te Hana Creek runs westward on the northern end of the town to the Kaipara Harbour. History The town gained a post offic ...

and sister

Mihi A Mihi is a traditional form of greeting among the Māori people of New Zealand. The word may refer to several other things and people: Places * Mihi, Nepal, a village in northwest Nepal * Mihi, New Zealand, a village in the Waikato Region * Mihi ...

were created because of this. As part of the revamp, producers wished for a more community based cast with established family links, mimicking the past presence of the Warner and McKenna families. Sixteen year old

was cast in the role. In 2006 the character was axed alongside 5 other characters as part of a revamp. The revamp was an attempt to create a culturally proportional cast after the exit of the only Pacific Islander,

Pua Magasiva Pua Magasiva (10 August 1980 – 11 May 2019) was a New Zealand actor of Samoan descent, best known for his roles as Shane Clarke, the Red Ranger from ''Power Rangers Ninja Storm'', and Vinnie Kruse in the soap opera ''Shortland Street'', bo ...

Storylines

Tama arrived alongside his family but it was soon clear to his friend

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...

(

Anna Hutchison Anna Hutchison (born 8 February 1986) is a New Zealand actress and producer. Her roles include Delphi Greenlaw on ''Shortland Street'' (2002–04); Lily Chilman, the Jungle Fury Yellow Ranger on '' Power Rangers Jungle Fury'' (2008); Allison Di ...

) that Tama enjoyed music a lot more than he did playing rugby as his father Joe (

Rawiri Paratene Peter David Broughton , generally known as Rawiri Paratene, is a New Zealand stage and screen actor, director and writer. He is known for his acting roles in ''Whale Rider'' (2002) and ''The Insatiable Moon'' (2010). Biography Paratene was born ...

) wished. Tama began to secretly date his sister's best friend Shannon Te Ngaru ( Amber Curreen) and the two started a physical relationship that landed Shannon pregnant. The two decided to adopt their baby out at birth and reconciled, but the baby boy died shortly after birth and the relationship fell apart. However, when Shannon attempted suicide and Tama nearly died in a building collapse, the two decided to commit to a future together ad got engaged. Despite appearing happy, whilst Tama was away Shannon started an affair with

Vinnie Kruse Vainu'u "Vinnie" Kruse-Miller (previously Kruse) is a fictional character from the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street'', played by Pua Magasiva. Vinnie first arrived on 25 November 2003, leaving the show on 23 February 2006. He made a retu ...

(

) and the two later broke up only to reconcile in the aftermath of Shannon supporting Tama through his uncle Victor's (Calvin Tutaeo) trial and false imprisonment for the murder of Geoff Greenlaw (Andrew Laing) and got engaged once again, much to the chagrin of Te Hana (Vanessa Rare). After getting in trouble for assaulting the true murderer, Dominic Thompson (Shane Cortese), Tama and Shannon married on Christmas Day with Victor, who'd been released after Dominic confessed to murdering Geoff as he died earlier and replaced the missing wedding rings with beach shells. The two took in Tama's troublesome cousin

Eti Kawaka Shortland Street is a New Zealand soap opera that has been broadcast on TV2 since 25 May 1992. The show centres on the title hospital and its staff and their families. The following characters currently appear in the soap opera. Characters who h ...

(Isaac Bell) and Shannon again fell pregnant, giving birth to Rangimarie Hudson (Mia Curreen-Poko) in May. However, it soon became clear Shannon was unhappy and she again strayed from Tama with his cousin Whetu (Taungaroa Emile) and the two separated for good. The separation turned nasty with Shannon shacking up with Whetu for good. Whetu began stirring up trouble leading to Tama calling Te Hana back from up north to help him out. Realising the two outside parties were causing nothing but distractions, with Te Hana trying to seek custody of Rangimarie for herself and with Whetu demanding $25,000 from his threeway agreement with Tama and their cousin Jay Copeland (Jamie Passier-Armstrong) to be bought out of his share of the family's Kahu Kai business, Tama and Shannon settled their issues independently, with the two agreeing on who kept which items for whom and ended up on agreeing to Shannon being sole guardian of Rangimarie. Tama left Ferndale to live with his family up north.

Reception

Producer Simon Bennett did not enjoy the introduction of the Hudson family, stating: "With the best will in the world the intention to introduce a down on their luck Maori family who moved from the country to the city came across as mawkish and somewhat PC in flavour." Playing Tama reportedly earned Wikaira-Paul huge popularity, especially amongst young audiences and he received the most fan mail. Parents of the young viewers reportedly hoped everything would work out for Tama. Tama and Shannon were also a hugely popular couple with fans constantly hoping the two would have a happy ending. The love triangle storyline between Tama, Shannon and Vinnie was singled out as a favourite romance storyline from the 2004 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Te Hana Shortland Street characters Television characters introduced in 2001 Fictional Māori people New Zealand male characters in soap operas