Minister impressed by TV’s ‘Governor’

Press, 4 October 1977, Page 3

Minister impressed by TV’s ‘Governor’

PA Wellington The Minister of Broadcasting (Mr Templeton) said yesterday that he was fascinated by the version of New Zealand history depicted in Sunday night’s television show, “The Governor." The Aberdein-Noonan work showed a period of New Zealand history he knew well.

He had expected a wider-ranging introduction but thought that the charisma of Grey and Hone Heke had come through very strongly. “I certainly think it is a duty of New Zealand television to develop New Zealand-based programmes and I can see the problems in developing a panoramic saga with limited resources,” said Mr Templeton.

He believed that there were weaknesses in the supporting roles and some amateurism in back-up. The Opposition representative on the committee investigating the spending on the series, Mr E. E. Isbey (Grey Lynn) described the programme as a major achievement in creative film making, with a compelling sense of New Zealand identity. “I am pleased to see the committee chairman, Mr Birch, also liked the episode. However, I cannot agree with him when he states that the select committee is only looking to see if there has been any undue spending of public money.

“My view and that of the Labour Party is that the committee has to take into full account the artistic and historical contribution of the series.

“The first episode has proved that it is a major milestone in New Zealand’s cultural maturity.” Mr Isbey said New Zealanders found it more acceptable to spend money on an authentic New Zealand production than imported “rubbish.” The President of the Te Reo Maori Society (Mr Tamati Kruger) said that the producers had done well with the resources they had to draw from. “They could have done a lot more with some of the battle scenes. Hone Heke could have been built up more to be the strong feared character he was.”

Mr Kruger said that he would have to see the whole series before judging whether it was worth the SIM spent on it. His judgment would hinge on whether the programmes were of a high standard. Sunday night’s was “reasonable.”