TV One's blog

The National Bank Country Calendar
Saturday 25 August, 7pm

For most people, eight seconds isn’t a long time – but ask a rodeo rider and they will tell you, when you’re astride a bull weighing close to two tonnes, trying to stay on his heaving, gyrating back, eight seconds can seem like eternity. Rodeo is a popular sport in rural New Zealand. Membership is increasing and it’s every cowboy’s aim to make it to the national rodeo championships.

That’s where Blakie Moore enters the picture. Tonight, ‘The National Bank Country Calendar’ catches up with Moore, who has lived all his life near Roxburgh in Central Otago (tonight at 7pm on TV ONE). He admits to making one trip to Christchurch to do his army training when he was young and says he’d like to visit the South Island’s West Coast one day.
As Moore puts it, when people ask him if he’s been overseas, he replies, “No, I haven’t, but have you visited Millers Flat?” For the uninitiated, Millers Flat is a tiny community 15 minutes down the road from Roxburgh.

Blakie Moore has spent his working life as a musterer and general farm worker and he’s never been out of work, despite leaving school before he turned 15. He owns a small block of land but doesn’t do much with it because he’s too busy with his greatest passion – breeding and breaking-in horses. That, in turn, led him to his love of rodeo – Moore was a founding member of the Millers Flat Rodeo Club.

Despite its small size, the club was selected to host the national rodeo championships this year. Setting up the venue, finding accommodation for around 200 competitors and mustering horses for the rodeo off the hills was a huge undertaking – and Blakie Moore was in the thick of it.

The event was also a perfect opportunity for a Moore reunion. All Blakie Moore’s immediate family turned up, along with his 30-odd grandchildren and a horde of great grandchildren.

For its last episode of the year, ‘The National Bank Country Calendar’ filmed the action of the rodeo and the horse muster and got an insight into the life of this real southern man.

FIFA Under-17 World Cup
Saturday 25 August, 3pm

ONE Sport brings viewers highlights from the first-round matches held in Korea of the ‘FIFA Under-17 World Cup’, featuring NZ v Brazil, NZ v England and NZ v People’s Republic of Korea.

The Youth All Whites coach Colin Tuaa knows New Zealand cannot afford to get ahead of themselves in their pursuit of history at the ‘FIFA Under-17 Men’s World Cup’. The team’s much anticipated group B opener is against three-time champions Brazil, with England and North Korea to follow.
Tuaa’s side will do well to emulate New Zealand’s historic 1999 Under-17 World Cup upset of Poland – let alone become the first Kiwi team (in seven attempts) to escape their group.

Watch ONE Sport today at 3pm for highlights of the first-round matches.

Sunday Theatre: The Man Who Lost His Head
Sunday 26 August, 8.30pm

A “fish out of water” is how Martin Clunes (‘Doc Martin’) describes his character Ian Bennet in tonight’s ‘Sunday Theatre: The Man Who Lost His Head’ (at 8.30pm on TV ONE). In real life, the actor went through a similar fish-out-of-water experience travelling to New Zealand from the United Kingdom to shoot the NZ/UK co-production. But flying halfway around the world and learning about Maori culture was a major part of the appeal for Clunes when he decided to take on the role.

Clunes plays repressed British museum curator Ian, who is about to marry his boss’s daughter, Fiona (Caroline Harker). Preparations are underway and Fiona is already drawing up seating plans. So when a repatriation claim comes into the museum for a Maori carving to be returned to a remote corner of New Zealand, Ian isn’t keen to be given the job of assessing the claim, particularly when he understands what a delicate case it is.
‘The Man Who Lost His Head’ follows Ian Bennet as his life is turned upside down when he is sent across the world to assess the return of an ancient Maori carving to the small fictional New Zealand town of Otakataka. The carving in question is the head of a Maori chief’s son who went to England in 1860 to buy weapons. But the son was seduced and kept by a lady aristocrat and never allowed to return. In desperation, he carved a head of his own likeness and sent it back to watch over his father’s people, but it was lost on the way. Since then, it’s as if this remote Maori community has been cursed, and having at last traced the carving to the museum in England, the locals are intent on getting it back to their marae where it belongs. Only then will their luck return.

Clunes describes his character as “honest, interested, although perhaps not interesting”. He says, “Ian’s passionate about the museum and really cares about the things he cares about”. But it is not until Ian travels to New Zealand and meets Lollie [Nicola Kawana] that his passions are awakened.

“He’s quite straight…and I think frustrated without really knowing it. It’s not until he’s shown the great wide world that he realises that there’s more to life than what he’s settled for.”

Clunes, who spent six weeks filming in New Zealand, says when he first arrived to film ‘The Man Who Lost His Head’, he found it easy to relate to Ian’s ignorance of Maori culture. “When I came to New Zealand I was ignorant of all things Maori and there’s a lot to take on board.”

And like his character in the film, Clunes fell in love with New Zealand. “It’s really lovely and is also a great place to work,” he says, comparing much of the countryside he’s seen so far with that of Cornwall, where he films ‘Doc Martin’. “Well”, he laughs, “it’s a bit like that, just with more reggae”.

‘The Man Who Lost His Head’ was mainly filmed on the West Coast of the North Island, around Huia and Bethells Beach. It will also screen in the United Kingdom.

Watch tonight’s ‘Sunday Theatre: The Man Who Lost His Head’, at 8.30pm on TV ONE.

The Sopranos
Thursday 23 August, 9.30pm

The fate of Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) is determined on ‘The Sopranos’ tonight as the finale draws near (at 9.30pm on TV ONE). With just three more episodes until the award-winning series comes to an end, the tension is rising.

On tonight’s episode Phil discovers Tony (James Gandolfini) has been dumping asbestos at the Barone garbage transfer station. Phil wants 25 per cent of the action – or no more dumping. On their way home from their meeting with Phil, Tony and Christopher debate what to do. Christopher thinks they should meet his price. “Regarding Phil, I gotta ask, what ever happened to ‘stop and smell the roses?’” he asks Tony. Tony agrees, “Each day’s a gift” – but he’s not sure Phil is on the same page. As the pair drive through the night, Tony has a revelation and all becomes clear.
Meanwhile, Paulie suffers a devastating personal loss when his mother dies of a stroke and AJ questions his friendship with Jasons Parisi and Gervasi.

Since ‘The Sopranos’ finished, actor Michael Imperioli, who plays Christopher, has forged a New Zealand connection – he has been cast in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of Alice Sebold’s best-selling novel, ‘The Lovely Bones’.

Real Crime: Fred West – Born To Kill?
Wednesday 22 August, 9.30pm
Fred West lived in an ordinary house, in an ordinary street. He had a wife, kids, and lodgers, and he liked company. He also liked to maim, molest and murder. Over a period of about 20 years, Fred and Rose West abducted, tortured, raped and murdered an unknown number of girls, many of whom lay buried in the garden until the police dug them up. What motivated West to commit such terrible crimes?

‘Real Crime: Fred West – Born To Kill?’ investigates the life of serial killer West (tonight at 9.30pm on TV ONE). It sees interviews with a pathologist, psychiatrist, journalists, one of his female victims, solicitor, criminologist and a criminal profiler, all in an attempt to uncover the probable cause and effect that led him to become one of the world’s most infamous killers.
Richard Fergusson, the prosecuting QC at the trial of Rosemary West described Fred West as: “A man devoid of compassion, consumed with sexual lust, a sadistic killer and someone who had opted out of the human race – the very epitome of evil.”

Biography writer Jean Ritchie says West came from a family in which incest was taken as fairly normal. She says he apparently played sexual games with his mother for years and was sexually abused by his father. “He was highly sexualised from a very young age and sex became very much part of his motivation.”

As a teenager, West was involved in a motorcycle accident, receiving multiple injuries including a serious head wound. He spent seven days unconscious in hospital. It has been speculated these injuries may have affected his behaviour and impulse control from then onwards.

Criminal profiler and doctor of psychology David Holmes says the brain’s frontal lobe controls the humans impulses and contains the elements of what makes people behave morally: “For Fred, these were damaged and for someone who was already a little bit psychopathic, he suddenly had the breaks taken off completely and it made him into a real danger to society.”

Watch tonight’s ‘Real Crime’ documentary ‘Fred West – Born To Kill?’ to see if this seemingly ordinary man was driven to slaughter at least 12 women and children… or if he was born to kill.

Artsville
Sunday 19 August, 10.40pm

‘Artsville’ this week takes a look at the first composer-in-residence at Douglas Lilburn’s former home, and features a reading of ‘The Man Behind The Counter’ by poet Martin Sanderson (tonight at 10.40pm on TV ONE).

Internationally acclaimed composer Gillian Karawe Whitehead is one those New Zealanders who is more widely known and celebrated abroad than at home. Tonight’s ‘Artsville’ follows Whitehead in her life and work during her time as the first composer-in-residence at Lilburn’s former home.
Douglas Lilburn, 1915-2001, was one of New Zealand’s most distinguished composers. His influence on his contemporaries and succeeding generations of composers has been far-reaching, both in practical and inspirational terms. Lilburn’s house in Thorndon, Wellington, where he lived for more than 40 years, makes an ideal residence for composers and, in 2005, Creative NZ and the New Zealand School of Music created a Composer-in-Residence position.

Whitehead was honoured to be the first composers chosen to live and work in Wellington’s historic precinct. Her residency was followed by Edinburgh-based New Zealand composer, Lyell Cresswell, who appears at the end of the documentary, and now in 2007, Ross Harris.

‘Composer In Residence’ director and producer Prue Donald says, filming Gillian Whitehead for ‘Artsville’ during her year as the inaugural composer-in-residence was a wonderfully creative experience. “Recording such a range of Gillian’s music in virtuoso performances during her time in Wellington was utterly memorable; her music became embedded in us.

“The support we received from the heart of the classical music community made it easy to portray the dedication, camaraderie and passion of our leading musicians who are appreciated and celebrated by music lovers both here and abroad, but remain relatively unknown as great artists to a wider audience in New Zealand.”

She says throughout the Whitehead’s residency, some rare opportunities to observe artistic collaboration at close range occurred. The documentary begins with a brief prelude about Douglas Lilburn’s legacy as the camera leads viewers up winding Ascot Street to his house, where the official launch of the residency was taking place.

Plus, tonight’s episode of ‘Artsville’ has a reading of ‘The Man Behind The Counter’ by poet Martin Sanderson.

Sunday Theatre: Stage Beauty
Sunday 19 August, 8.30pm

Claire Danes (‘Romeo + Juliet’) and Billy Crudup (‘Almost Famous’) join a host of British actors, including Rupert Everett (‘The Importance Of Being Ernest’), Tom Wilkinson (‘The Full Monty’) and Hugh Bonneville (‘Notting Hill’), in tonight’s ‘Sunday Theatre: Stage Beauty’ (at 8.30pm on TV ONE).

‘Stage Beauty’ follows the fortunes of Ned Kynaston, who has played all of England’s best female roles, and aspiring actress Maria, who is allowed on the theatre stage for the first time, after King Charles II changes an old law.
Set in 1660s England, Edward ‘Ned’ Kynaston (Crudup) is one of the country’s most celebrated actors. With King Charles II (Everett) taking to the throne after more than a decade’s rule by the Puritan Oliver Cromwell, the renaissance is in full flourish and theatres all over the country have reopened. However, women are still forbidden to appear on stage and Ned profits, using his beauty and skill to make the great female roles his own.

But the new King soon tires of seeing the same old performers in the same old tragedies. Since no-one will take him up on his suggestion to improve ‘Othello’ with a couple of good jokes, he decides to liven the royal palate by allowing real women to tread the boards and rules that men may no longer play women’s parts.

This is good news for the monarch’s mistress, the stage-struck Nell Gwyn (Zoe Tapper), and for Maria (Danes), Kynaston’s lovelorn young dresser who has been secretly performing at a seedy tavern in lavish costumes borrowed from her employer. It is very bad news for Ned who plummets from his exalted position as one of the London stage’s most desirable females to become a virtual nobody. Cast out of the spotlight, Ned seems headed for burlesque obscurity until Maria, now a rising star, takes it upon herself to make a man of him again.

The real-life Ned Kynaston, who was one of the Restoration’s leading lights in theatre, was often described as being an exceptional beauty and was renowned for his ability to convincingly personify the heroines of the English stage.

“The good thing about Ned Kynaston,” says screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher, “is that there’s just enough information on him to make it tantalising – but not so much as to take away all the mystery”.

Billy Crudup found the challenge of playing Ned Kynaston both exhilarating and extremely daunting: “It’s a rare opportunity for a 35-year-old man to be offered a role in which he has the chance to play Desdemona and Othello.

“It’s also rare to get a screenplay that celebrates language while telling such an intricate, tragic, funny story of identity and love. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take on such an overwhelming task.”

American actor Claire Danes also enjoyed tackling the British role: “It was pretty challenging for us as Americans to play 17th-century English characters, not to mention that Billy’s in a dress most of the time!” she says. “We spent a long time working on our accents.”

Step back in time to England’s Renaissance period and witness Ned and Maria’s struggle for theatre glory in tonight’s ‘Sunday Theatre: Stage Beauty’, at 8.30pm on TV ONE.

Auction House
Sunday 19 August, 7pm

Local series ‘Auction House’ returns to TV ONE tonight at 7pm, with its mix of behind-the-scenes stories about the art, artefacts and antiques going under the hammer in busy auction houses.

The series follows the activities of eccentric Dunbar Senior and his son, Dunbar Junior, third and fourth generation descendants of auction house founder Dunbar Sloane, as they sell everything from classic cars and Clarice Cliff ceramics to Maori artefacts and New Zealand art – including the infamous ‘Helen Clark doodle’, which attracted a great deal of media interest earlier this year.
‘Auction House’ spends some time at Dunbar Sloane’s Wellington branch – with new recruit from Scotland, Anthony Gallagher, art expert Helena Walker, and toy specialist Bettina Frith, as they track down valuable items for some very lively auctions in the capital.

The series also follows roving antiques experts Peter Wedde and Hamish Walsh, as they tour the provinces, hosting antique roadshows and valuing private collections in their search for those rare hidden treasures.

For the first time, ‘Auction House’ also documents the startup of a new auction house, Art + Object, being set up by four young men – Hamish Coney, Ben Plumbly, James Parkinson and Ross Millar, who have all broken away from rival auction company Webb’s. The keen blokes are followed from the beginning, as they develop their new premises and go on the road to source art and furniture for their first auctions, through to their opening night party and the ‘honeymoon period’ of their first big contemporary art auction, then on to the leaner antique and furniture sales that follow. In a small but highly competitive market, the big question will be, do they have what it takes to succeed?

‘Auction House’ reveals the unique stories behind art and antiques and the interesting bunch of characters who buy and sell them.

Episode one shows Dunbar Senior and Junior clash with a famous artist’s son; Peter Wedde is moved to tears by a rare find in Nelson; and a new auction house, Art + Object, is born.

The National Bank Country Calendar
Saturday 18 August, 7pm

The McGrath family did what many city people dream of but don’t dare to do. They sold their inner-city Auckland house and moved to an orchard in Nelson – and although they initially knew nothing about horticulture, they’ve made a success of it.

Carol McGrath was brought up on a dairy farm but had never really been interested in a career on the land. Mike had always loved the outdoors but spent his days running an Auckland pharmacy. In 2001, they felt their life in the city was too hectic, so they sold their Epsom house and took their four children south.
Tonight, ‘The National Bank Country Calendar’ (at 7pm on TV ONE) catches up with the McGraths on their 10-hectare property, Stafford Lane, where they grow grapes, olives and feijoas, along with a wide range of other produce. When they first saw the orchard, the variety of crops appealed to the McGraths – they felt a crop failure or market disruption in one sector could be overcome by focusing on the others.

Stafford Lane already had its own wine label, but the McGraths have made more efforts to market the label, setting up links with a national distributor and opening to the public for wine tastings. They also produce their own olive oil and pickled olives, plus a range of chutneys and preserves made from produce grown on the property.

They say people’s attitude towards olive oil has changed in the six years they’ve been at Stafford Lane. Initially most people knew little about olive oil. Now they find increasing numbers of people understand the differences between oil varieties and know exactly what they want – and many others are keen to taste and learn. As a result, the McGrath’s are planning to plant several hundred more olive trees in the coming season so they can continue to meet market demand.

Their feijoa crop is relatively easy to sell – the season lasts only a few weeks and the bulk of the crop grows in the North Island. Nelson feijoas ripen later, so growers there have the market almost to themselves. The McGraths sell their best quality fruit to fruit shops and supermarkets in Wellington and around the South Island, while lesser-quality fruit goes into juice, or to make feijoa wine.

Mike and Carol McGrath say they have no regrets about their move from the city. They had to go through a steep learning curve, but they say many local people helped them get on their feet. They believe they now lead a healthier lifestyle – and say their children also have no regrets about the move south. Watch ‘The National Bank Country Calendar’ to see the city-dwelling McGrath family on their fruitful adventure.

PowerBuilt Tools Motorsport – Australian V8 Supercar Championship
Saturday 18 August, 3.55pm
ONE Sport and Geoff Bryan bring viewers up-to-date coverage from today’s all-important qualifying session for Round 8 of the ‘Australian V8 Supercar Championship’, from Sydney’s very tight and demanding Oran Park Raceway, today at 3.55pm on TV ONE. The motorsport action will return to TV ONE at 10.30pm with full delayed coverage of the first race from Round 8.

Full coverage of races 2 and 3 from the ‘Australian V8 Supercar Championship’ will screen on Sunday 19 August, from 3pm. ‘PowerBuilt Tools Motorsport’ will also highlight the recent events from round 12 of the World MX 1 Championship from Belgium.
TV ONE’s coverage on ‘PowerBuilt Tools Motorsport – Australian V8 Supercar Championship’ will be as follows:

Saturday 18 August: 3.55pm to 4.55pm
Saturday 18 August: 10.30pm to midnight
Sunday 19 August: 3pm to 6pm