Claire Oberman found herself on cinema screens across the country, after playing one of the larrikins who jump into a fast-moving mini in local blockbuster Goodbye Pork Pie (1981). Born and raised in New Zealand to Dutch immigrants, Oberman arrived at the role after studies at National Drama School, a busy and eclectic theatre career, and a role on TV hit Hunter's Gold. Post Pork Pie, she relocated to the United Kingdom, where her CV includes three seasons of BAFTA-nominated prison camp drama Tenko — playing a nurse from Australia — BBC mini-series Fortunes of War, and blue blood drama Gentlemen and Players.
Claire says that everything in life attracts her except alcohol, cigarettes and marriage. Goodbye Pork Pie press kit
The Sound of Music Live
The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies
Eleventh Hour
Dil Jo Bhi Kahey
Doctors
Gentlemen and Players
The New Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)
Midsomer Murders
Patriot Games
To be the Best
Trainer
Fortunes of War
Casualty
Matlock
Paradise Postponed
Tenko Reunion (telemovie)
Das Schöne Ende dieser Welt
Tenko
Goodbye Pork Pie
Goodbye Pork Pie was a low-budget sensation, definitively proving Kiwis could make blockbusters too. Young Gerry (Kelly Johnson) steals a yellow Mini from a Kaitaia rental company. Heading south, he meets John (Tony Barry), who wants his wife back, and hitchhiker Shirl (Claire Oberman). Soon they're heading to Invercargill, with the police in pursuit. High on hair-raising driving and a childlike sense of joy, the Blondini gang are soon hailed as folk heroes, on screen and off. Remake Pork Pie (2017) was directed by Matt Murphy — son of Geoff, who drove the original film.
Hi-de-Hi!
Mortimer's Patch
Mortimer’s Patch was a popular drama series following Detective Sergeant Doug Mortimer (Terence Cooper) at work in the town of Cobham. Mortimer plays a city cop returning to his rural roots; Don Selwyn is Sergeant Bob Storey. The series was NZ’s first police drama, and a rare local drama to top ratings. Mortimer's Patch was made when the archetype of the ‘community cop’ everyone knew was still a powerful one, and it was a counterweight to the faceless riot policing of the Springbok Tour. Three series were made.
Joe and Koro - High Society
In the 1970s Yorkshire emigre Craig Harrison turned the odd couple tale of a Māori and a Yorkshireman into a novel, a radio play, and this popular sitcom. Joe (Stephen Gledhill) is the nervy, university-educated librarian; his flatmate is city-raised Koro (Rawiri Paratene, in one of his earliest lead roles) who works in a fish and chip shop. In this episode, Koro’s dodgy homemade wine helps inspire embarrassing scenes at a party of Joe’s friends. Among drunkard Pākehā, watch out for a paralytic Kevin J Wilson, and a rare pre-Pork Pie appearance by Claire Oberman.
Hunter's Gold
This classic kids’ adventure tale follows a 13-year-old boy on a quest to find his father, missing amidst the 1860s Otago gold rush. When it launched in September 1976, the 13 part series was the most expensive local TV drama yet made. Under the reins of director Tom Parkinson, the series brandished unprecedented production values, and panned the Central Otago vistas for all their worth. Its huge local popularity was matched abroad (BBC screened it multiple times); it showed that NZ-made kids’ drama could be exported, and helped establish the new second television channel.