Boyd Rolleston is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street portrayed by Sam Bunkall. He made his first screen appearance on the episode broadcast on 13 September 2012. Boyd arrives as the hospitals newest surgeon and is portrayed as a no-nonsense doctor, down-to-earth, and unpretentious despite coming from a wealthy and privileged upbringing, making friends regardless of his social-status.
Creation and casting
Bunkall was cast as new doctor Boyd Rolleston in 2012, a no-nonsense surgeon from a wealthy family in the farming industry. His down-to-earth, unpretentious attitude quickly made him peers of all social status' and has a clear track record which has earned him fans in his field. He is "honest and friendly with a wry sense of humour" and quickly makes friends regardless of their social status and he socialises with nurses just like he does with the more higher ranking hospital staff.
Storylines
Boyd arrives and is hired by Rachel McKenna as a new surgeon for the hospital, much to the angst of Chris and the pair clash. Boyd starts to get harassed by Lana Jacobs, Kylie Brown and Emma Franklin. They believed that he was responsible for sexual assault when they broke into his house and later had him investigated for the sexual assault of Roimata Samuels. It turned out they believed he had killed Kylie's sister but the suspicions ceased when Boyd located Juliaalive and well. Boyd briefly dates Nicole, but ended up marrying Brooke Freeman in an attempt to disown his parentage. The two began to develop feelings for each other and fell in love once Brooke scraped death following a kidney illness. On their one-year anniversary, the two renewed their vows. However the two broke up following Boyd having an affair with Ava Erickson after mistakingly believing Brooke had cheated on him. Boyd said his farewells to Brooke. He begins a relationship with Harper Whitley and the two got engaged following with an annulment with Brooke. On their wedding day, a gunman took hostage the Shortland Street Hospital Cafe, causing Boyd and Harper to abandon their wedding ceremony to help in the situation. Harper, who was trying to hide her feelings towards Drew eventually blew her cover and Boyd noticed that she loved him. Boyd told Harper that he already had to fight TK for her once, and didn't want to do it again therefore ending their relationship. Harper gave her engagement ring back to Boyd. Boyd started to become close with Bella Durville, who was devastated over the loss of her mother Wendy Cooper. Bella ended the relationship between her and Boyd after repeated arguments about a ghost named 'Melissa' who she believed was haunting their home, leaving him and Ferndale with her daughter Stevie. Boyd later had a one-night stand with Eve Reston, who was later employed as the hospital's new oncologist and became Boyd's new love interest as well as pregnant with his twins. When the twin boys, Romulus and Remus, were born, he discovered that Eve was in fact the body snatcher, so he threatened Eve to confess the crimes, but not until Remus recovers from congenital hypoxia as he was starved of oxygen and nutrients compared to Romulus. On September 8, Eve returned with Remus and Romulus. Wiuth Eve being a wanted fugitive, Romulus was discovered to have Hirschsprung's disease, which meant he needed surgery to repair and remove parts of his intestines with no nerves activating intestinal movement. Boyd illegally operated on him, but decided to return the twins back to Eve, instead of handing Eve in so he gains custody by default. In May 2019, Boyd develops feelings for the new Indian cardiologist, Zara. They have a cooking lesson where Boyd gets problems with chilli, and the two kiss. Zara ends up dating Chris, which Boyd still has feelings for her. Then in December, Boyd finds out about a company called Lunagenics, and then Bella returns. They begin a small relationship but his feelings for Zara keep escalating. In the cliffhanger, Boyd and Zara are taken hostage by Tim Myers, who is Boyd's niece's girlfriend. Tim is convinced that Shareez will be in a certain location, but then Boyd frees Zara from the suicide vest, and the ambulance they are in blows up, just as Boyd and Zara get out. Zara is OK but Boyd received the worst of injuries. He has a surgery performed on him and he survives, but it is revealed he has a hearing problem for a while.
Character development
Marriage to Brooke Freeman
In 2013 he marries Brooke Freeman in an attempt to anger his family and succeeds. Upon the sudden marriage, it was also expected to cause uproar as he was still in a relationship with Nicole Miller. In an interview with Stuff, Allen commented on the marriage saying, "Oh totally, she is a gold-digger, I think she does essentially want love and she wants to be accepted and loved but she also has had enough life experience to know that life is a lot easier and a lot more fun with money, so she's not really compromising on that one." But despite Brooke's money hungry persona, Allen also commented, "I think she's playing the long game, I think she thinks that if she's got a whole bunch of time with him where he won't be able to see anyone else, she'll basically force him to love her." The marriage was based on a 12-month contract, but after the contract was up, the pair celebrated their relationship that started as convenience but now turned love with a re-commitment ceremony. Boyd later cheats on Brooke and she leaves for Washington to further her career in 2014 and the pair annul their marriage a year later.
Failed wedding to Harper Whitley
After Brooke's departure, he later starts a relationship with Harper Whitley. The NZ Herald reported on the 6 December 2015 that there was a "red wedding" cliffhanger set to air. It was also reported that it turns to a "prescription for trouble" when one of Boyd's rivals, Drew McCaskill, arrives and troubles the ceremony. Vandervis commented that "When Drew turns up she starts having doubts." It was later revealed that the wedding turned to disaster when hospital stalker and gunman, Gareth Hutchins, held multiple characters hostage, including Boyd on the 2015 season finale cliffhanger. A picture previously released to The New Zealand Herald showed Harper distraught with her wedding dress also covered in blood. The plot bought mixed views to the audience with some loving the drama and some feeling that cliffhangers from previous years were better. Producer Simon Bennett commented that the season finale was the "biggest cliffhanger" he has worked on in his experience as a producer in 20 years. The pair later go their separate ways after Harper declares her love for Drew following their wedding in 2017. A year later, he became the godfather to Drew and Harper's intersex child, Billy.
Reception
Since his debut, Boyd has been seen as down to earth, but until recently, after befriending his rival, Drew, the pair together have been seen as more of a comedy act with Bunkall commenting on the paring, "It was that comedy thing of putting people together who'd never normally be together". The character has been proven as popular with a viewer commenting they named their wireless network 'Fentich' after the dodgy drug company that spied on Boyd.
Off screen roles
Off screen, however, Sam Bunkall helped to write the 2019 rape/sexual violation storyline between Ben King and Ester Samuels, as Bunkall worked as a rape prevention educator, while, as a Shortland Street first, keeps a wronged character in the program to document his full journey to redemption, and the victims' journey to recovery. It also documented the fallout between Louis King and Ben after the latter finally confessed, having been defended by Louis for the past month.
