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T.V.

With Popeye -on-the-box

One of the most boring questions asked by people when you reveal you work for the NZBC is whether the Government's inspired split of the Corporation into three bodies will affect programmes in any way. Well, dear readers, here is my answer. You'll get better service, a greater impartiality (whatever that means), and a slightly greater willingness to dig up uncomfortable facts, but only on the assumption that the central controlling body is relatively powerless. The only way that this will be possible will be for the central body to have no say on money matters, as this is how the Government kept a tight rein over the Corporation in the past. However there are a couple of riders to this, the first being that you won't notice any difference in the overseas programmes, except that they'll be shown about 6 months behind their original show date in Britain, compared with the present one to two years. The main advantage of this, of course, is that documentaries will be a little more relevant. The second rider is that the Corporation stops its wasteful use of staff, as the present strength of three thousand souls could be cut to at most a thousand and the local content doubled to about 30% (An Australian private television station would probably operate with a staff of fifteen).

The Prince Bernhardt interview finally got to air, despite the clumsy interference of just about everybody concerned. The story, if you don't read your Sundays, is as follows. The Prince was interviewed during his tour around New Zealand, with one of the questions being about his wartime membership of the Nazi Party. He explained it as being one of the prerequisites for passing examinations at that time, and referred the interviewer to his official autobiography, which gave a full account of his actions over that period. The Internal Affairs minion who was present reported what passed to his master who made a request to the NZBC to chop this portion of the interview.

Head Office agreed, and passed the instruction along to Gallery's producer, Tony Rimmer. He wasn't keen to play it in its cut form, but was pushed into playing it by Head Office instructions. The whole affair reflects discredit on all involved -the Head of the Internal Affairs Department, O'Dea, is a notorious royalist, and was probably responsible for the notorious 'destroy the toilet seats' order during the last Royal Tour (unfortunately there's not enough space to tell you that one). The Corporation heads must also be blamed for not supporting their staff against outside interference. Finally comes the producer, who was at blame for in effect conniving at censorship -one would have expected more of a fight if Monaghan was still producing Gallery. I'm sorry to bore you with what seems like a petty internal matter, over a question that is almost irrelevant, but this is to show you what goes on over these matters.

And now for what's worth watching. I haven't seen 'A Family At War' but reputable sources claim it's very good. It's a serial, and it has started, but you may be able to pick it up with episode 2 this Wednesday night. 'Inquiry' which is the new current affairs programme that replaces the dead and unlamented 'Saturday' is also on the same night and should be worth watching. Friday night's movie, 'Attack' looks good, as it's reputed to be one of the best anti-war movies ever made. 'Miss Wellington' is on the same night, and should be a laugh, if past shows are anything to go by (no prizes if half your female acquaintances are better looking than the one who wins the title). The 'Lone Ranger' on Saturday afternoon is an absolute must if you have the time. The episode I saw last week show showed the Lone Ranger rescuing a First Folio from the clutches of a band of desperadoes.

Finally, a boast about a prediction I made in this column last year to the effect that a certain two programmes that didn't reflect favourably on the National Government were shelved until after the elections. They were World In Action's 'The Heroin Trail' and the National Film Unit's 'What Have They Done to The Rain' which appeared soon after the change in government.