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Episodes and Stories 20
  • 1:45:00

    Fallout Part 1

    Season 1994
    Prime Minister Robert Muldoon decides to take a political risk and call a snap election. National is defeated as the Labour Party sweeps into power with their anti-nuclear platform. Upon taking office, David Lange faces pressure from the public and his colleagues to live up to his campaign rhetoric.
  • 1:45:00

    Fallout Part 2

    Season 1994
    An economic crisis is narrowly averted. Realising there is no middle ground on the nuclear issue, Lange and the Labour Government take New Zealand into a new era, cut off from the country's traditional allies.
  • 1:27:00

    Life's A Riot

    Season [2014]
    A docu-drama depicting a definitive moment in NZ history: the 1932 Queen Street riots as seen through the eyes of James Edwards, the son of the leader of the Unemployed Workers Union, Jimmy Edwards.
  • 1:45:00

    Abandoned

    Season [2015]
    The Rose Noelle and four crewmen went missing in 1989. After a harrowing 119 days adrift at sea, they were cast ashore on Great Barrier Island, but their miraculous survival was only the beginning. Based on a true story.
  • 2:00:00

    How To Murder Your Wife

    Season [2015]
    A true New Zealand story: In 1977, Alf Benning conspired to murder his overbearing wife. A set of outlandish plans and misadventures make Alf an unlikely and lovable murderer in this black comedy.
  • 1:55:00

    Venus And Mars

    Season [2015]
    A true story: A young detective is brutally attacked, and his home burned down. The residents of Palmerston North descend into fear, but as the facts unfold, a bizarre and twisted reality is revealed.
  • 1:35:00

    What Really Happened: Votes For Women (2012)

    Season 2012
    The story of New Zealand's women's suffrage movement, and the people who made it possible.
  • 1:32:00

    Lexus Sunday Theatre - Hitler - The Rise of Evil

    Episode 1
    The Rise of Evil is a Canadian TV miniseries in two parts, directed by Christian Duguay and produced by Alliance Atlantis. It explores Adolf Hitler's rise and his early consolidation of power during the years after the First World War and focuses on how the embittered, politically fragmented and economically buffeted state of German society following the war made that ascent possible.
  • 1:50:00

    Lexus Sunday Theatre - Hitler - The Rise of Evil

    Episode 2
    The Rise of Evil is a Canadian TV miniseries in two parts, directed by Christian Duguay and produced by Alliance Atlantis. It explores Adolf Hitler's rise and his early consolidation of power during the years after the First World War and focuses on how the embittered, politically fragmented and economically buffeted state of German society following the war made that ascent possible.
  • 2:00:00

    Sunday Theatre - Clare

    A dramatisation from the book "Fate Cries Enough" Author Clare Matheson.
  • 1:00:00

    Forgotten Silver (1995)

    A "mockumentary" which documents the fictitious "lost" life of Colin McKenzie, a New Zealand film pioneer and inventor extraordinaire, who was allegedly born in rural New Zealand in 1888. Through archive photos, rare film footage and interviews with such experts as critic Leonard Maltin, filmmaker Peter Jackson, and actor Sam Neill uncover the trials, triumphs, and tragedies behind the supergenius filmmaker.
  • 1:30:00

    Waitangi - What Really Happened?

    This docudrama follows an imaginary news reporter who travels back in time to cover the days leading up to the Treaty of Waitangi 6th February 1840 signing, told in recreations and interviews with the participants and locals.
  • 1:55:00

    Resolve (2017)

    Based on the true story of Chris Crean, who took a stand against gang violence in his community only to become a target himself.
  • 1:55:00

    Catching The Black Widow

    Dramatisation of the story of Lee-Anne Cartier, who suspected her sister-in-law of murdering her brother and battled for justice.
  • 1:30:00

    Waitangi - What Really Happened?

    This docudrama follows an imaginary news reporter who travels back in time to cover the days leading up to the Treaty of Waitangi 6th February 1840 signing, told in recreations and interviews with the participants and locals.
  • 2:02:00

    The Kick

    Season [2014]
    The dramatic behind-the-scenes story of All Black Stephen Donald and the penalty kick that saved the 2011 World Cup. Few New Zealanders will ever forget the excruciating final of the Rugby World Cup 2011, particularly the collective gasp when disaster struck and our fourth choice number 10, Stephen Donald, entered the game. Donald quickly kicked the penalty that won us the tournament, and instantly the man who had been previously humiliated and dismissed became one of our greatest heroes. Taking you inside the intimate world of our rugby greats in a way never shown before, The Kick is the story of one man's dream, determination and perseverance against incredible psychological odds. Starring a cast of striking All Black lookalikes and interweaving real footage from the games, you'll be forgiven for thinking you're watching a behind the scenes documentary. The production worked closely with the New Zealand Rugby Union to deliver this true-to-life drama that shows a unique insight into the high stakes, competitive and nationally loved game. Discover the heartbreak of losing a dream and the glory of having it come true.
  • 1:55:00

    Billy

    Season 2011
    Billy is the personal story of New Zealand s most beloved entertainer, Billy T James. Sunday Theatre goes beyond the public façade to reveal the man behind the chuckle. Twenty years have passed since Billy T James died at the age of 42, and he still manages to make us laugh. Tonight on TV ONE, the story of New Zealand's best loved entertainer is being told in the Sunday Theatre - the Audi New Zealand Season drama, Billy. Based on the biography Billy T, written by Matt Elliott, and made with the approval and support of Billy's widow, Lynn Matthews, Billy is a love story set in the changing culture of New Zealand in the seventies and eighties. It also portrays the journey of a shy, loyal and musically gifted boy who married his first love and went on to achieve extraordinary success. A Maori boy who within a few short years lost everything, including his life. Billy also takes us back to the beginning when Billy grew up in the fifties and sixties in a predominantly Pakeha world. Being Maori was considered a disadvantage to getting ahead and his adoptive parents brought him up believing that to succeed he had to forget his own culture and play the game by Pakeha rules. A multi-talented musician, Billy dreamed of being a great entertainer. Paradoxically, Billy was desperately shy off-stage but thrived in front of an audience. His timing, music and comedic charm made him hugely popular, and for Billy the greatest pleasure was to make people laugh. Although Billy had built a successful career, bad business decisions cost him his wealth and his health. Billy didn't know how to say no and the years of unhealthy living and relentless pressure finally took their toll. Working hard to pay off his debts he caught a fever that damaged his newly transplanted heart and on August 7th 1991 he passed away. Lynn Matthews, who has never sought the limelight and has been uncomfortable with other projects detailing her husband's life, believes Billy is a wonderful tribute. "Since Billy died, some people who feel like they own Billy are making money from him. Also, there are so many stories floating around about Billy, things that never happened but are being perpetuated. "So, it's comforting to know that he is still loved as much as he is and people still talk about him with such affection and fondness," she says. She says Billy is very accurate. "I wish some of the things (in the drama) were made up, but that was what life was like for us. A lot of people thought they knew what was best for Billy but they didn't. Billy knew what he wanted; he just didn't know how to tell people."
  • 1:55:00

    Tangiwai - A Love Story

    Season [2011]
    One of New Zealand's most heart-wrenching and powerful national stories is that of the 1953 Tangiwai rail disaster, which left 151 dead. Tangiwai tells the story of the famous cricketer, Bob Blair and his fiancé, Nerissa Love, whose young life was shattered by the tragedy. It's 1953. Bob Blair and 19-year-old Nerissa Love are deeply in love. Their love story alone is the stuff of movies but what makes Bob and Nerissa's story one of legends is that catastrophic events will cause their private love story to play out its final scene on an unlikely public stage. While Bob goes off to play cricket for his country in South Africa, Nerissa makes a fateful decision to travel to Auckland to be with her friend for Christmas. While Bob smashes wickets in Johannesburg, the train Nerissa is on heads straight for a bridge that spans the Whangaehu River - a place better known as Tangiwai - "River of Tears". When news of the train crash and Nerissa's death - along with 150 Xmas travellers - reaches the cricket team in South Africa, Bob is devastated. But what follows is an act of courage and defiance that stands as one of our most dramatic moments in sporting history. Bob Blair's actions on the cricket field - batting through tears to try and save his battered team - reflect the heroism being played out back home as the nation faces its worst ever disaster. TANGIWAI explores a great tragedy through the eyes of two young people who embody all the hope of the post-war generation, a generation who were desperate to forge a new, independent path for themselves.
  • 2:00:00

    Bliss

    Season [2011]
    Bliss: The true story of 19-year-old Katherine Mansfield's escape from New Zealand, and the fast and furious beginning of her life as a writer. It's 1908, and Katie Beauchamp is bored out of her mind in New Zealand. She's desperate to leave home, and has a burning ambition to be a writer. Her parents' bitter opposition can't stop her - at the age of 19, she arrives in London with a small allowance and big dreams. The next year of her life will change everything. In one year, Katie Beauchamp becomes Katherine Mansfield, and out of first love, disgrace and heartbreak, she forges the stories that will begin her career as a writer. One hundred years later, Katherine Mansfield is still New Zealand's most famous writer. Sunday Theatre - The Audi New Zealand Season: Bliss is the story of her brave, scandalous and triumphant beginning.
  • 2:05:00

    Shackleton Part 2

    With their ship trapped, Shackleton and his men are forced onto the ice, and it becomes clear that the only way out is to haul boats across the ice floes to the sea. Against all odds the men reach the water and endure a ninety-mile journey across the South Atlantic to Elephant Island.