This 2002 Touchdown series followed rangers working for the Department of Conservation and Ministry of Fisheries. The series covered work with threatened species — ranging from kākāpō, kiwi and native lizard recovery programmes, to Hector’s dolphin in marine reserves. Other episodes included management of Abel Tasman National Park, and mountain rescue work at Aoraki/Mount Cook. Ten 30 minute episodes screened on TV One. According to the Department of Conservation's annual report for 2002, the series attracted high ratings and received excellent reviews. 

This soulful number was the first single from Che Fu’s second album The Navigator. It marked the debut of his new band, The Krates. The ambitious video translates the song’s message of undying friendship to a World War II setting (filmed at the NZ Warbirds Association hangar at Ardmore Airport). Che-Fu’s Supergroove bandmate turned Krates drummer Paul Russell plays the cheeky English chap, while P-Money has found some turntables that possibly aren’t authentic wartime issue. Fade Away was judged Best Music Video and Single of the Year at the 2002 NZ Music Awards. 

While playing at the beach with their grandmother, two children witness an Elvis impersonator walk out of the sea. They believe he's the "fishman" lover of a female taniwha, Hine Tai. Magic realist mayhem — and tragedy — ensues as the stranger stirs up the life of their whanau in the quiet fishing village. The fable, written by Briar Grace-Smith and directed by Peter Burger, received six nominations at 2002 NZ TV Awards, winning Best Drama, and Camera. It screened on TV3 and features the Bic Runga song 'All Fall Down'.

In 1951, New Zealand temporarily became a police state. Civil liberties were curtailed, freedom of speech denied, and people could be imprisoned for providing food to those involved. This documentary tells the story of the infamous lockout of waterside workers, and the extended nationwide strike which followed. There are interviews with many who were involved, from workers to journalists. 1951 won Best Documentary at the 2002 New Zealand Television Awards, and John Bates (50 Years of Television) was named Best Documentary Director. 

The Fellowship of the Ring was the film that brought Peter Jackson's talents to a mass international audience. A year after its release, the first instalment of his adaptation of Tolkien's beloved tale of heroic hobbits was the seventh most successful film of all-time. Critic David Ansen (Newsweek) was one of many to praise the fan-appeasing Frodo-centric take, for its "high-flying risks: it wears its earnestness, and its heart, on its muddy, blood-streaking sleeve." At 2002's Academy Awards, Weta maestro Richard Taylor became the first Kiwi to win two Oscars on one night.

Singer-songwriter Anika Moa admits she wanted to be a rugby player. "I played for Canterbury for years. But I chose music". The decision paid off: in 2000 she became the first New Zealander to sign to an international record label without a home release. Although her debut album Thinking Room produced hit singles (‘Youthful', 'Falling in Love Again'), Moa wanted to "stay true to herself and her musical path", and returned to her Kiwi roots in 2002. Since then she has recorded a series of popular albums, and also composed music for a run of documentaries. 

This documentary looks at the art of traditional Samoan tattooing, or pe'a, based around interviews with nine men who have the tattoos (which cover the lower back and upper legs). The film goes to Samoa to discover the history of tatau, and also interviews New Zealand-based Samoans with pe'a. They talk about the cultural significance of the tattooing, what it means to them, and about dealing with the pain of the long tattooing process, as well as the recovery period afterwards. The documentary screened at the 2002 NZ International Film Festival.

On the 22 December 1995 episode of Shortland Street, a truck ploughed into the clinic’s reception, causing carnage. The first excerpt is taken from the follow-up episode, which screened on Christmas Day. Nurse Carmen (Theresa Healey), having apparently only received minor bruising, suddenly collapses. The second clip, from the next instalment, sees her wheeled into hospital — shortly before she died from a brain haemorrhage, and delivered a whopper of a soap shock. In 2002 longtime Shortland scribe Steven Zanoski named the truck crash among his favourite Street stories. 

This 2002 documentary profile of the late Ngāti Porou master carver and 2013 Arts Foundation Icon award winner Pakariki Harrison won that year’s Best Māori Language Programme at the TV Guide NZ Television Awards. The documentary follows Harrison, the eldest of 21 children from Ruatoria, who honed his practice while still a student at Te Aute College in Hawke’s Bay and who left a legacy as one of the finest tohunga whakairo (expert carvers) of his generation. It also examines the unique chisels used by the carver, and their specific uses and patterns.  

Mrs W. Grant provides insight into the quirky ways of humans, at a place many of us will one day come to know - the retirement home. Mrs W. Grant may be short in duration, but it rounds off with a big punchline. Written and directed by Simon Marler, the film screened in the Homegrown season at the 2000 NZ Film Festival, and was selected for the 2002 Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland.