Top Half was Television New Zealand's northern regional news broadcast, broadcast on TV One. It covered an area from Turangi in the south to North Cape. The first programme was broadcast on 16/02/1980 and finished nine years later at the end of 1989. The original regional programme was Town and Around, (1966 to 1973) followed by This Day in Auckland. From April 1989 Top Half was broadcast on TV2 to accommodate the new Holmes programme.
1Dramatic introduction in the St James Theatre, Auckland, to the best of the Top Half regional stories for 1983.
2Tim Shadbolt, the concrete contractor who became Mayor, worked through several election issues, like the new Daimler car bought before he was elected; being sued by the council over several allegations; and scepticism about his competence.
3De Brett's Hotel holds 'Dole Day Afternoons' where the unemployed can hear local bands for $2.
4Small Corners, which did stories on small and remote places, was a big success this year and Waihi Bay, Lake Taupo, was a favourite.
5Auckland's new striptease club has men stripping and women paying to see the action.
6A man on a unicycle wearing a papier mâché egg is not a usual sight on New Zealand roads but Whitianga commune member Brodie Andrews is practising for a ride from North Cape to parliament next year as part of his election campaign.
7Miss Tuipare takes a swim every day with her tiny cignet and the small swan is something of a local celebrity.
8Teenagers Natalie Young and Shane Fife from Cambridge are prize winning ballroom dancers and are practising in an orchard packing shed.
9The Hollywood Cinema in Avondale, Auckland, has a restored Wurlitzer organ which was used to provide a soundtrack for silent films. It was in the Regent cinema, and after five years of restoration it is making a comeback.
10The Aunties entertain toddlers at day care centres, but they were all unemployed actors.
11Chas Toogood takes on Rowan Aitkinson