| Stuart Neilson | |||||||||||||||||
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| Shortland Street character | |||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Martin Henderson | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1992–95, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 25 May 1992 | ||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 25 May 2017 | ||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Bettina Hollings | ||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Caterina De Nave (1992) Maxine Fleming (2017) | ||||||||||||||||
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Dr. Stuart Neilson is a fictional character in the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Martin Henderson as part of the original cast until early 1995. The character returned after 22 years off screen to celebrate the show's 25th anniversary episode which aired on 25 May 2017.
The character's three years on the soap featured several major story lines as well as social commentary on youth, religion and mental illness. Stuart was introduced alongside mother, Marj (Elizabeth McRae) and father, Tom Neilson (Adrian Keeling) as a core family-unit alongside recurring brothers, Darryl (Mark Ferguson), Damien (Mark Ferguson) and Patrick.
The character was generally well received with Henderson winning the "Best Male Dramatic Performance in a Television Show" in the 1993 New Zealand Television and Film Awards.