‘Mackenzie’ captures feel of colonial N.Z.

Press, 31 August 1977, Page 6

‘Mackenzie’ captures feel of colonial N.Z.

By

KEN COATES

As New Zealanders wei tend, firstly, to imagine that I good television drama can; be produced overseas, and secondly, that we have a history of little account. South Pacific Television’s five-part drama, "The Mackenzie Affair," which begins this evening, should prove that both these attitudes need re-evaluation. The drama, based on how the author. James McNeish, sees James Mackenzie, the, sheep-stealer, conveys a distinctive atmosphere of colonial New Zealand with its inherited and emergent' attitudes, and the rugged; feeling of high country and. mountains dwarfing men and sheep. South Pacific Television,, which yesterday showed pre-' views from the series, seems to have hit on an ideal for- 1 mula for developing tele-! vision drama in this country — using established expertise ■with home-grown talent and [initiative. James Cosmo, a Scottish* actor, takes the role of Mac-1 kenzie, and looks every inch; the imagined wild Scot —i deprived, fiercely indepen-; dent, and utterly devoted to [ his dog. The first episode is set in [ Scotland, where production

I was carried out in associa-; tion with Scottish Television which will ensure a network 1 screening in Britain. ; The producer is South i [ Pacific’s head of drama (John ; [ Mcßae) and the director. [ John Craft, has worked [ with Mcßae on many pres-; [tige 8.8. C. productions, in [eluding "David Copperfield”; and "Jane Eyre.” , Main roles are played byj experienced actors. Sidebottom, the sheep-run manager [who hounded Mackenzie, is [ ! played by Roger Oakley. Ken ■ Blackburn plays the humaniItarian sheriff. Tancred, and I Robin Bowering is a sensitive ,and convincing Sergeant ! Seager, the man in charge of ' the infamous Lyttelton jail. , Supporting roles lack 'strength here and there, but I this is not an embarrassing 'weakness. High-country (scenes reflect a tremendous [amount of enthusiasm and [ inventiveness. Mackenzie’s [dog, for example, is a New [Zealand champion sheepdog. i South Pacific has shown 'confidence in the production [by scheduling it on a com[mercial night. “The Mackenzie Affair” promises to be [the kind of production that [makes a New Zealand television industry worth having ! — and, above all, it is entertaining.