The Governor was a television epic that examined the life of Governor George Grey in six thematic parts. Grey's "Good Governor" persona was undercut with laudanum, lechery and land confiscation. NZ TV's first (and only) historical blockbuster was hugely controversial, provoking a parliamentary inquiry and "test match sized" audiences. It won a 1978 Feltex Award for Best Drama. In ‘Episode One: The Reverend Traitor', Grey arrives to colonial troubles: flag-pole chopping Hone Heke, missionary Henry Williams, and rebellious Te Rauparaha.
The Governor was touted as television history even before it had screened: "New Zealand's War and Peace" was how TV One's Head of Drama, Michael Scott-Smith described the concept in 1975. Boosterism for preview screenings reads ...
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new zealand wars, māori, parliamentary inquiry, muldoon, new zealand history, treaty of waitangi, colony, henry williams, governor grey, controversy
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