Jim Hickey
Jim Hickey spent more than two decades using his dextrous vocabulary to predict the likely path of sun, rain and wind. A longtime TV One fixture as weather forecaster on the primetime news, Hickey has also brought his distinctive presentation style to a host of other shows, including Country Calendar and A Flying Visit.
Karen Olsen
Karen Olsen’s work as a meteorologist and weather reporter has seen her stationed on sub-tropical Raoul Island and presenting from the blistering cold of an Antarctic winter. After 21 years reporting the weather on TV One News, often alongside much loved weatherman Jim Hickey, Olsen left TVNZ in November 2015.
Bill Kerton
Bill Kerton has directing and writing credits on shows from Havoc and Newsboy to Jim Hickey’s A Flying Visit, but it’s his voice that will be most recognisable to punters. Duncan Greive of The Spinoff called him a "narrating genius" for his observational documentary voice-overs. Kerton's distinctive drawl and humour have graced everything from bogans to Neighbours at War, the show he also directed for four seasons.
Dave Mason
After a career producing a range of TV programmes in the United Kingdom and Germany, Dave Mason relocated to New Zealand in 1999. He began working with Julie Christie at Touchdown Productions on cooking show Ready Steady Cook, then started producing Jim’s Car Show for TVNZ, hosted by weather presenter Jim Hickey. Working on this and further shows with Hickey (A Flying Visit, The Real Middle Earth) he formed Dave Mason productions in 2004, and in 2007 launched long-running careers show Just the Job. Mason has also directed and written further TVNZ shows, including Ellerslie and Maggie’s Garden Show.
Frank Torley
The broadcasting career of so-called 'Mr Country Calendar' Frank Torley spanned almost half a century. He worked on the iconic rural series as reporter, producer and narrator, and a number of other programmes besides. In 2002, he was awarded the ONZM for services to broadcasting. Torley died of cancer on 27 March 2016, just weeks after Country Calendar celebrated its 50th year on air.
Yvonne Lawley
Yvonne Lawley's acting career spanned more than 60 years. She began acting on television and radio in the 1960s, and the following decade on the big screen. Lawley's work in 80s soap Gloss, and as star of Ruby and Rata and Rud's Wife provided proof positive that elderly women could be a commanding presence on screen.
Liddy Holloway
Probably best known for playing Alex McKenna (wife to the boss at the Shortland Street clinic), and Hercules' mother, Liddy Holloway also wrote scripts for many of the television shows she appeared in (among them: Shortland, Homeward Bound and Australia’s Prisoner). Holloway passed away in late 2004, after a screen career that spanned three decades.
Christina Milligan
Christina Milligan has done time as an actor and scriptwriter, but it is producing that she loves most. Milligan began producing at TVNZ, and after classic movie The End of the Golden Weather, did eight years as a writer and script editor in Australia. Currently running company Conbrio with her partner Roger Grant, her producing resume includes documentary Let My Whakapapa Speak and executive producing hit film Mt Zion.
Peter Elliott
Peter Elliott has been a fixture on New Zealand television for over three decades. Award-nominated as the scheming Rex Thorne on 80s soap Gloss, he would go on to win for tele-movie Until Proven Innocent, and spend four years on Shortland Street. Elliott has also guided viewers through New Zealand's history as host and narrator of shows Explorers, Captain's Log, and Frontier of Dreams.
Janice Finn
Janice Finn is a television producer and actor. She produced 90s television series Marlin Bay and the iconic high fashion soap opera Gloss (1987-90). Since then, Finn has had a successful career as a writer, director and producer for stage and screen.