Throng

9:30pm - Wednesday, December 16 on TV 3

Inside New Zealand: Bringing My Brother Back To Life, screening on Wednesday, December 16th at 9:30pm on 3, tells the miraculous story of 12-year-old O'Connor Buckley as recorded by his 17-year-old sister Michaela Buckley.

A year ago O'Connor was left in a coma after a motorbike accident which also killed his father, Paul.

On a country road 40km from Rotorua, Paul's large Triumph Thunderbird motorbike collided with a Ute. Paul died at the scene, and O'Connor suffered serious injuries including major trauma to his head and a broken leg.

That fateful day, O'Connor's 17-year-old sister Michaela, a year 12 Putaruru College student, was waiting for her Dad to come home so she could take the last photos she needed of his bike to complete her NCEA photography project.

9:30pm - Wednesday, December 9 on TV 3

Inside New Zealand: Catching The King Of The Benefit Cheats, screening on Wednesday, December 9th at 9:30pm on 3, tells the story of the world's biggest ever benefit fraudster - Kiwi, Wayne Patterson.

Patterson wanted to be a millionaire ever since he was a child - but rather than earning the money, he created 123 false identities and stole more than $3.4 million dollars in benefit payments over three years.

When police finally broke into his $200 a week two-bedroom unit in Massey, they found a whole secret world behind the unassuming exterior.

9:30pm - Wednesday, December 2 on TV 3

Cult-like groups are on the rise in New Zealand. Now Inside New Zealand: How To Spot A Cult - Part Two continues its investigation into what really goes on inside these often controversial groups. Inside New Zealand: How To Spot A Cult - Part Two screens on Wednesday, December 2nd at 9:30pm on 3.

Inside New Zealand: How To Spot A Cult gives viewers an intimate view of what life is like inside groups that some former followers say are cults operating in New Zealand.

"These former members have consistent stories about how the different organisations actually work," explains producer Gary Scott, "and the techniques they say were used to control them, even though the belief systems can be miles apart."

9:30pm - Wednesday, November 25 on TV 3

Cult-like groups are on the rise in New Zealand. Now the two-part Inside New Zealand: How To Spot A Cult documentary uncovers what really goes on inside these often controversial groups. Inside New Zealand: How To Spot A Cult kicks off on Wednesday, November 25th at 9:30pm, and concludes on Wednesday, December 2nd.

Inside New Zealand: How To Spot A Cult gives viewers an intimate view of what life is like inside groups that some former followers say are cults operating in New Zealand.

"These former members have consistent stories about how the different organisations actually work," explains producer Gary Scott, "and the techniques they say were used to control them, even though the belief systems can be miles apart."

9:30pm - Wednesday, November 11 on TV 3

In a sequel to Inside New Zealand: The Gangs, Inside New Zealand: The Truth About Asian Crime, screening on Wednesday, November 11th at 9:30pm on 3, sees veteran broadcaster Pam Corkery investigate the alarming rise of Asian crime in New Zealand.

The very mention of heavyweight Asian crime syndicates in New Zealand is invariably met with either silence or accusations of racism.

Sources and interviewees' fears of being labelled xenophobic were some of the many barriers faced by the investigative team of Pam Corkery and Laurie Clarke when researching The Truth About Asian Crime.

"During the Gangs research there were numerous veiled references to a very dark force greater than the locally born criminals," says Clarke, "but no-one was prepared to elaborate."

9:30pm - Wednesday, November 4 on TV 3

Inside New Zealand: The $181 Dream, screening on Wednesday, November 4th at 9:30pm on 3, tells the story of the Auckland mother and daughter who bought a Christchurch eatery off of Trade-Me for $181 and their battle to open their dream restaurant.

On the, lucky for some, unlucky for others, date of Friday the 13th Theresa Cowan made a Trade-Me bid of $181 on a restaurant that had been listed as a no reserve auction. To her delight she won the bid and invited her mother, Kathy Dryfhout, to join forces.

For roughly the price of dinner out for a family of four Theresa bought a restaurant fitted out with $100,000 worth of chattels.

"I got on Trade-Me, basically there was 20 minutes left of an auction... and I won it!," Theresa told TV3's Campbell Live during the time of the purchase of the pizza restaurant in Northlands Mall.

9:30pm - Wednesday, October 28 on TV 3

Are the vitamins you're taking actually making you healthier? Inside New Zealand: Are Vitamins Killing You?, screening on Wednesday, October 28th at 9:30pm on 3, explores this question by making eight volunteers - mostly high vitamins consumers - go cold turkey for six weeks.

Many New Zealanders believe the way to good health and longer life is through the daily use of vitamin supplements. But not everyone agrees. Professor Rod Jackson of Auckland University says the scientific evidence is clear - people who pop vitamin pills die younger.

"The best evidence is a review of over 60 randomised trials of almost a quarter of a million people worldwide - and the evidence is that those who take vitamins have an increased risk of death compared to those who don't," Professor Jackson explains.

Thursday, September 18th at 9:30pm

Peter Butler, a 32-year-old schizophrenic man who believes he can control the weather is the subject of 3’s informative and illusory documentary - Inside New Zealand: Just a Little Mad?, screening Thursday, September 18th at 9:30pm on 3.

The documentary follows a year in the life of Peter, who is among the one in 100 New Zealanders who hear voices or see people who don’t exist. His tortured journey from illness to health forms the backbone of this eye opening piece of television.

Inside New Zealand: Just a Little Mad? gives viewers a rare opportunity to walk in a mentally ill person’s shoes by capturing what it is like to live each day not knowing what is real and what is not.