Dr. Luke Louis Demonte Durville is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was played by Gerald Urquhart from the character's first appearance in September 2007 until January 2013. The character appeared on a sporadic status until 2012 when he became a core cast member. Used primarily for comedic relief, Luke was a highly sought after and respected anaesthetist who was portrayed as having a quiet manner and awkward demeanour, but was always a bit of an enigma to his workmates. Despite being highly respected and sought after in his field, he chose not to socialise with his colleagues, preferring to spend his time alone and pursuing his interest in amateur taxidermy and the history of witchcraft and necromancy. The character has been involved in several high profile storylines, including being a suspect in both the Ferndale Strangler storyline and the murder of Ethan Pierce (Owen Black), as well as a romance with popular character Bella Cooper (Ameila Reid). Luke Durville received a hugely popular reception with the character being highly praised as well as Urquhart's performance. His pairing with Bella Cooper has also been well received and singled out by reviewers of the soap. Creation and casting The character of Luke was created as a suspect in the Ferndale Strangler storyline that saw 5 characters killed off by a serial killer as part of a cast cull. Gerald Urquhart had auditioned numerous time for Shortland Street but it was not until he worked alongside casting agent Andrea Kelland in a stage production, that Urquhart was asked if he would like a role on the soap. During the production he had played a character named "Dex" and was subsequently cast as a character very similar on the show: Luke Durville. Urquhart was originally cast for 5 weeks. It was announced in August 2007 that Gerald Urquhart would be arriving as kooky new anaesthetist Luke Durville as part of the Ferndale Strangler storyline. Urquhart's first day filming was on location and he spent a majority of it as a background character, reflecting back he found it a, "relaxing introduction" and enjoyed, "having such an easy start." He made his first appearance on 14 September 2007. The producers enjoyed the character and continued to write for him, with Urquhart's contract continuously extended. He appeared for 3 months, making his last appearance on 13 December 2007. Urquhart returned