whitcombe pass, TV doco

given the govt's refusal to keep funding tv channel 7, I wouldnt hold out much hope of that happening any time soon....

Caught the last episode of a 4-part seies on Heartland TV (Sky),"Explorers". Episode One: Draughtsman, Charles Heaphy Episode Two: Surveyor, Thomas Brunner Episode Three: Gold Prospector, Alpheus J (George) Barrington Episode Four: Missionary, William Colenso "Over the course of four episodes, Explorers will see Peter Elliot undertake four great journeys - one in the North Island and three in the South Island. He tramps through remote and exposed country not for the faint hearted and experiences some of the hardships that explorers faced a hundred and fifty years ago endless rain, flooded rivers, freezing cold and ravenous mosquitoes. He will explain where they went, what they did - and why. He will detail the often-dramatic landscape changes in the intervening years. And he will reflect on how the journeys are affecting him physically and mentally. Peter does, of course, have the aid of modern bush craft and survival equipment, guides and experts - but he always has one eye on how the early explorers survived with their inadequate equipment so far from the possibility of help or rescue. Peter's progress is supported by an extensive archive of maps, paintings and drawings - but most importantly, by the actual diaries of the explorers involved. These journals provide a stunning wealth of information and capture the spirit and flavour of the journeys that Peter is following". Heavily & clearly co-sponsored by Macpac, they retraced some epic journeys for their time. Worth looking out for when it comes around again.

barringtons journey was a mission and a half..... they came back more dead than alive http://www.jcu.edu.au/aff/history/articles/vervoorn.html

I watched the first crossings episode and enjoyed it - a New Zealand story told with energy and I thought it was also a lot more 'real' than any reality TV. TVNZ promo hype aside - the makers did not pretend it to be a documentary, or a renactment, or a safety video... it is part of our legacy, a great story told in a dynamic and entertaining manner by experts at the craft, of story telling. It may not be a style that suits everybody but at the end of the evening its ratings will decide how successful it was as television. I was lucky to be one of those who 'supported Kevin Jamie and the crew in life threatening situations' (and helped with the cooking) and I'm very aware its only story telling. I am looking forward to next weeks episode based on Grave and Talbot; I'll be enjoying seeing great parts of the NZ backcountry while recognising how special the early explorers were; and grinning at the antics and carefully planned stunts performed by the cast. They do their own stunts :-) Tuesday - 8.30 - TV1.

Each to their own. I realise some people out there enjoy this sort of thing, and am happy that tv caters for them - as it should. However, I feel rather let down that it does not cater for those of us who want something less fake and don't appreciate being lied to. From what you say - you are able to see the hype, get past it, and enjoy the underlying story they tell. Which is a useful skill in these days of reality TV, but one which sadly I lack - I see the lies and the pretense, and turn off. Ultimately this sort of 'reality tv' has supplanted informed and informative documentary on our tv channels, and is the reason I don't even own a TV any more. As for ratings - they are irrelevant when we're not given any choice of anything better to watch - ratings show not what is good, but what is the best of the bad bunch. My belief is that advertisers feel that impressionable people who happily swallow the lies of reality tv, will also swallow the lies of the intervening adverts. Those who analyse and reject both are not worth marketing to and thus not worth making TV for. So unless we're going to get back a genuine advert-free, publicly funded (or subscription-funded) TV, I guess i better just get used to it and go possuming.

I feel the shows potential for a good historical story has been ruined by Bear Gryllsitis . I feel the only way the producers felt they could appeal to modern TV viewers was to sensationalise and overdramatise things in a staged man vs wild way . Maybe they are trying to sell their product (which all TV shows are) to a wider audience than the New Zealand market, ie the discovery channel audience, where I imagine the money lies . Being someone who spends an awful lot of time alone in the bush, it didn't turn me on, though the historical educational parts where quite good, but has been done better before . I am a big fan of Graves and Talbot and have read about them before, so I may watch that episode . Also the Colenso episode interests me, as I have walked in his footsteps crossing the Ruahine East to West . I whakapapa to the Mokai Patea (among others), my Father and sister still farm the lands there . A man called Renata Kawepo, the great chief of the Mokai Patea, whangai my Great Grandfather, he is revered by my whanau and his portrait has had pride of place on our lounge wall my whole life. Kawepo was very close to Colenso, he lived with and went on many trips with him, I would like to see if it talks of him, I doubt Colenso would of had the fame he has in his journeys if it wasn't for Renata Kawepo .

I still haven't seen it so won't comment on this doco, but I agree about docos in general. When a show like Mythbusters, which is about blowing stuff up and repeating the same statements 5 times in a row in different voices, can be promoted as filling a doco charter, it makes me feel really sad about the state of things. It's symptomatic of the status quo format which presumes the audience are idiots with very short attention spans. I guess when things have to be pumped so full of commercials, that's the way of things. Did many people catch Craig Potton's series titled 'Rivers' a couple of years back? I thought that came through quite well and was thinking good on him, although he's not a natural presenter.

well lets face it most of us here know too much about negotiating rough country and cast a very critical eye over these sorts of programmes. sometimes it can be a case of making a programme that will get funding and get sold, first crossings is on teh whole a good programme, my only issue is younger and less experienced people dont think about the safety backup that is available to the people in the programme. we had a case recently of someone trying to emulate bear grylls in the hunuas, he was lucky to escape alive, if he had tried the same thing when he did in the south island the cold and more extreme weather would have been more likely to have finished him off... even stating that the people in these programmes have emergency locator beacons ready to summon the emergency services quickly if something goes wrong, extra crew can be standing there with extra gear if needed. goign out into the surf in bad weather and pretending like you arent wearing a flotation device when you really are is deception and in this scenario it's an extremely dangerous one. I just hope no one tries to emulate what these people are doing in this series

Having watched the first two of these, my feelings are mixed. On the one hand, I really enjoy seeing truly wild NZ landscapes depicted. These are places that only trampers and mountaineers see. I do also appreciate the retelling of NZ stories, and I don't think we do this enough. However, it's rather disappointing and a little insulting to see some painful and unnecessary dissembling (e.g. last week when they tied off onto grass and steepened the landscape by tilting the camera). More importantly, I am very concerned about the dangerous practices demonstrated on this show without adequate caveats. I think that's very irresponsible.

yes i forgot about the tilting camera shot.... not impressed watch the credits. the first week there was a water safety expert the second episode, they credited abseil access..... so theres more backup there to cover them which probably changes their mentality. their tone is a bit blase for what they are undertaking, the darrans are treacherous at the best of times if it's wet the rock and tussock are slick and people fall to their deaths.