Sunday choice: 11 new shows

Press, 15 April 1978, Page 13

Sunday choice: 11 new shows

By

KEN COATES

Viewers have the rare prospect of a choice of 11 new series tomorrow, including a major 8.8. C. nine-part programme, “Royal Heritage,” which will screen from TVI. Viewers will take a journey through the vast Royal collection and the buddings which house it—from Buckingham Palace to Balmoral, from the Coronation coach to the Royal yacht, from eleventh-century illuminated manuscrips to Queen Victoria’s railway train.

It is the first time that members of the Royal Family have spoken on film about its different aspects.

“Royal Heritage” is the first TV series permitted to film in close-up the Crown Jewels and other treasures.

The producer is Michael Gill, who produced the award - winning series, “Civilisation” and “America.” A 30-minute Christchurch - produced programme, “Yours for the Asking,” hosted by Peter Hawes, will begin on TV2. The programme is based on requests from viewers. The first of the series will deal with theatre ceilings, behind the scenes on TV, talks with some birds, and what it is like to leap from an aircraft at 5000 feet.

Tomorrow afternoon, TV2 will present five short programmes designed to

inform and entertain. They are “Church in Action,” dealing with church news; “Pacific Viewpoint,” on Maori and Polynesian issues both in New Zealand and the Pacific; “Happy Yoga,” in which Veronica Waring asserts that anyone can do yoga exercises; and “Pet Life,” in which the curator of Auckland Zoo, Graham Meadows, is host of a programme of interest to all animal lovers. “Living Today.” hosted by Margaret Evans, a former journalist and Hamilton city councillor, is designed to help the viewer beat rising prices. Another new series on TV2 is “Hondo,” a story of the American wild west in the 1860 s. The channel will also open a new series of “Stars on Sunday,” with lan Watkins. Those featured in tomorrow’s episode are a British singer, Barry Kent; Harry Secombe; a TV2 news-reader, John Hawkesbury, who will read “Live with Enthusiasm” by Samuel Ullman; the Hammond family; Gracie Fields and “Bless this House”; and Bunny Walters singing “The Green, Green Grass of Home.” “Access” also will resume from TV2 on Sunday, at 1 p.m., and will deal with bow hunting and teaching children to read. Another new TV2 programme on Sunday afternoon is “To the Wild

Country,” a Canadian series which explores the wilderness from coast to coast. Tonight TVI will screen the first of the results of the labours of Jim Siers, the _ New Zealand film-

maker and adventurer. He set out to build and sail a 75ft traditional voyaging canoe from Tarawa, in the Gilbert Islands, to Fiji, and nearly lost his life in a storm during the undertaking.