Tracking Shots
Close Ups on NZ Film History
The Governor / Te Kawana
Broadcast on TV1 in 1977, The Governor, a six-part series based on the life of Sir George Grey, was then, the most ambitious drama series ever produced in New Zealand.
The Governor was expensive, and critically received. And it caused controversy even before it was broadcast. Then Prime Minister Robert Muldoon deemed the production costs exorbitant and ordered a Parliamentary Public Expenditure Committee to investigate.
As commentator, Lawrence McDonald remarked, “the negative fallout effectively spelt the end of ambitious historical dramatised documentaries on New Zealand television. Apart from the series Pioneer Women in the early 1980s, there has been nothing quite like it since.”
The series was broadcast during October and November 1977 and won the 1978 Feltex Award for Best Drama. Episode 4 won the Award for Best Script.
