From the New Zealand TV Weekly. April 10, 1967
Auckland
Keeping up with fashion, Barbara Magner exemplifying the silver look in a glittering dress while twirling an ancient duelling pistol on a Town and Around assignment at the new His Lordship shop evolved from one of Auckland's last-surviving stables.... Guests at the Tapu Hotel on the Thames coast recently found themselves in company with Barry Crump on a Coromandel Peninsula "safari for Town and Around. They reported Barry one of the quietest people there.... Making a final appearance before hospitalisation, Max Cryer compered a footwear parade at Trillo's and also joined celebrities lending a sparkle to a North Shore garden party for the visiting Australian Ballet. Following a throat operation, Max will not speak for two months ..... Delighted North Shore housewives recently received Alison Holst recipe leaflets from their itinerant fishmonger ..... Viewers happily welcomed back to their screens Angela Cerdlan now Mrs Haddo d'Audney, on her return from honeymooning ..... Shy young man behind dark glasses in the new Inner Circle coffee bar turns out to be news- reader Bill Leathwick ..... America! packs a lot into a brief space with compere Jack Douglas wasting no words. Consequently viewers see an excellent travel documentary does not depend on ballyhoo, yet shows Americans as conscious of their identity and proud of their heritage.... John Harre did a first-class job on the sympathetic two-episode feature, The Pitcairners, which proved beyond doubt that New Zealanders can make TV documentaries equal to any ..... You can't beat the old pros as jubilant Colin Snedden proved when describing New Zealand's test cricket victory. Relaxed, natural, excellent diction and not a word too many ..... Since most Aucklanders have caught only a glimpse of Government House through trees, they welcomed a Town and Around tour of it with Colin Hill doing a creditable reporting job. How this boy has improved!
Wellington
Brian Bell, director of NZBC's drama project, is impressing all who are working with him in the first major effort to create television, drama in this country. His high standard of professionalism, enacting requirements and tremendous enthusiasm look as if they will over come the handicaps of producing plays with the limited studio facilities available. Rehearsals of the first play, written by well-known Wellington author Ian Cross, and titled Momma's Good Girl, began in mid- March and it was to be telerecorded on April 1. The cast is Pauline Yerex, Ron Lynn, Dilys Forrest, John Malhalfey, Pamela James, Peter Bland, Ann McClymont, Leslie Wright, Briana Brimer, Charles Walker, Barry Hill. Ian Cross's comedy will be followed by a second play in Wellington, then Brian Bell will head north with producer Douglas Drury to establish a TV workshop in Auckland. Ultimately, he hopes to have two plays from Wellington, two from Auckland and one from Christchurch to screen as a series later in the year on all channels. The corporation is lucky to have a producer of the experience of Brian Bell to launch its drama series. His TV workshops have been eye-openers for those: taking part. In addition to the plays, there have been exercises with excerpts. from plays from the theatre and the discussions themselves have been lively affairs ..... Ian Cross, having got a TV play off his chest, is now preparing for the first of his new Column Comment series, due to go on screen early in April. He has been given a wider brief, will be able to comment not only on newspapers, presented on the NZBC, radio and TV. The earlier series proved popular, and undoubtedly there will be a big welcome again for the programme.
CHRISTCHURCH
Front man for CHTV3's Sixty Seconds Please will be Dr James Walsh, a local medical practitioner who is, in fact, a man of many parts. Before embarking upon a medical career he graduated M.A. with first class honours from Canterbury University and subsequently taught at Christ's College. He also played a prominent part in university life, being interested in drama and in his student days did some radio work and was subsequently a film critic for one of the Christchurch newspapers. Sixteen people have been selected from auditions to take part in this panel programme, the idea behind which is primarily entertainment. According to producer David Pumphrey panelists include university professors, doctors, housewives, schoolteachers and lawyers. Production of the series of 13 programmes starts soon, but in. the first instance this one will be for local consumption only, although some panel members will be "imported" from the North Island ...... Latest Christchurch TV and radio recruit is none other than a former Miss New Zealand, Lyndal Cruickshank, who held the title in 1964-65 and first became interested in TV and radio during an 18-month stay in Australia. Lyndal brings some experience to her new job - she originally trained as a kindergarten teacher - for she worked for a few months in 1965 as a TV announcer on channel 7 in Perth.... First intimation Christchurch viewers and listeners had that Wallie Chamberlain had stepped into Roy Woodward's shoes as District Announcer in Charge was a newspaper statement relating to the controversy that has sprung up over the Anglicising Maori place names. Taxed on the NZBC's policy change, Chamberlain, under his new title, said nothing official had been received in Christchurch at that stage. Further inquiries revealed that Wallie's new position was not official either. At that stage it was still possible there would be appeals against it.
DUNEDIN
Whether it is the angle from which the announcers are "shot", or the rigidity of the camera's position, but newsreaders on the local TV screen police WANTED ads. It would be a relief if the camera occasionally backed away from the announcer just prior to showing a film clip. An eye ball to eye ball confrontation might be desirable between political adversaries but a torpid viewer can be unsettled by the basilisk stare of a newsreader with a long bulletin in his hand. . . Which leads this writer inexorably on to those humorous touches that often wind up the evening news bulletins. Many an announcer meets his "Waterloo" trying to cope with that last funny bit. Should he continue looking at the TV camera like a human extension of the ticker tape machine, or should he stretch his lips, and SMILE at the salty morsel in his hand. Don McCutcheon can hide his mental turmoil behind an enigmatic, bushy moustache. Clean-shaven newsreaders must envy him ..... Local Viewers should look for the name Nat Bradley. No pop singer, he. Nat is supervising technical producer for DNTVZ who has Keith Clatchpole and Ron Gillan assisting hlim in seeing that the picture is in focus, that the locally produced programme is OK for sound and that the lighting fills up human lines and wrinkles. Their names occaslilonally appear on credits. Only hawk-eyed viewers ever spot them.... Lucy in London must have given local producers a real lift. Even with all their money and talenlt the US. makers turned out a faltering, dnagging, dreary flop.
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