Throng

Panic at Rock Island, a new Australian telemovie that began production in Sydney today includes two faces familiar to kiwi viewers: Grant Bowler (Outrageous Fortune, Lost, True Blood, Ugly Betty) and Anna Hutchison (Shortland Street, Go Girls, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities).

Set on a spectacular island in Sydney Harbour, Panic At Rock Island tells the story of a hot summer’s day when a lineup of top acts play for music fans from around the world. It’s all idyllic until unimaginable disaster strikes when a deadly virus is discovered on the island. Its symptoms are shocking and it brings swift and painful death.

Panic at Rock Island will air in Australia later in the year.  No New Zealand air date is known at present.

After we posed the question "When can a New Zealand TV show stand on its own feet?" South Pacific Pictures, the makers of Outrageous Fortune, Go Girls and Shortland Street, emailed us with the following response:

There has been a bit of correspondence of late on Throng about funding for New Zealand drama and we thought you might be interested in some of the background realities of producing drama in this country.

a) the ad revenue generated from an hour of prime time drama  (8.30pm/9.30pm) on TVONE, TV2 & TV3 is about $120-150,000 gross before commissions and discounts, and about $70-90,000 net to the network per hour.

Read more

8:30pm Thursday, June 17 on TV2

It's crunch time for TV2's favourite North Shore friends in this week's action-packed season finale of Go Girls.

As Britta (Alix Bushnell) prepares to take the plunge with Joseph (Blair Strang), Brad (Matt Whelan) decides it's time to win her from her fianc�'s clutches. Meanwhile, Kevin (Jay Ryan) continues his witchy liaisons, Cody (Bronwyn Turei) regains hope for her marriage and Olivia (Esther Stephens) realises there's nothing stopping her going back to New York - or is there?

With series two coming to an end, Go Girls cast members and Head Writer, Kate McDermott share a few highlights from their journey thus far.

Alix Bushnell's highlight to date was finding out her real-life dog, Toby, would have a cameo in this week's final episode.

8:30pm Thursday, June 10 on TV2

Starring as Britta's (Alix Bushnell) new squeeze, Joseph, on Go Girls, actor Blair Strang is thrilled with the development of his character throughout the show's second series.

First appearing on series one of Go Girls in a guest role when Joseph and Britta played extras on a fantasy television series, Strang has returned as Joseph; now a newly widowed, high-profile actor who has swept Britta off her feet.

Strang says, "I've always enjoyed Go Girls and thought the scripts this series were even funnier than the first series.

"Since audiences last saw Joseph, his life has changed with the loss of his wife and his television success. However, Joseph's decisions often flow with the wave of his television success which is not necessarily a good thing," he adds.

8:30pm Thursday, June 3 on TV2

While Cody (Bronwyn Turei) recently gave in to temptation on Go Girls, this week her husband, Eli (Joe Naufahu), is tested when his former gay lover, Philippe (Gareth Reeves, The Cult) returns to town.

In series one, Eli's relationship with Cody turned Philippe from disgruntled ex to jealous meddler who made several attempts to sabotage their wedding day. This week he returns with a new partner and a dinner invitation for the couple.

Struggling with her own guilty conscience, Cody takes her paranoia regarding Philippe's intentions out on Eli.

Turei explains Cody's situation: "Before Ben (Jared Turner) came back and stirred up old feelings, Cody had just been gloating about how her marriage was going really well.

With the finale of American Idol rapidly approaching, TV2 has jumped on board giving it pride of place next Thursday night.

TVNZ has decided to go all out and screen the 3-hour Grand Finale episode on Thursday at 7.30pm, the same day the finale takes place in the US.

Kiwi shows Police Ten 7, Rescue 1, Go Girls and 20/20 will be bumped for the week to make way.

8:30pm Thursday, May 20 on TV2

This week on Go Girls, heartbroken Brad (Matt Whelan) does his best to sabotage Britta's (Alix Bushnell) new relationship with Joseph, aka 'The Player' (Blair Strang, Shortland Street).

Realising he's left things too late with Britta, Brad enlists Kevin's (Jay Ryan) help with his mission to reveal Joseph's root-rat ways.

Whelan says of his character: "Brad has started to see Britta in a new light. He never paid attention to her before because of his history with Amy (Anna Hutchison). Now that Amy's out of the picture, Brad has begun to appreciate Britta's differences and quirks."

Unfortunately, Britta's feelings towards Brad are quite different. "In Britta's mind, Brad will always be Amy's true love and she won't even think about taking him as a boyfriend," Matt explains.