In this episode of The Gravy Warren Maxwell employs the services of Wellington architect Gerald Melling. En route the Liverpudlian recalls his path down under, via underground publishing and scandal in 60s Toronto to designing punchy, idiosyncratic Kiwi buildings. These include the Signal Box house (Home New Zealand 2008 House of the Year) which lets the brake off the metaphorical possibilities of its Masterton location. Gabe McDonnell then looks at Richard Meros' obsession with Helen Clark, and its 'adaptation' for theatre by young lover/playwright Arthur Meek.

In this episode of Fourth Estate, journalism lecturer Brian Priestley ruefully brings down the curtain on state TV's media commentary show. After 12 years of scrutinising newspapers, radio, magazines and TV, Priestley offers parting awards for "the most memorable people, programmes or papers since 1976". He also gently snipes at the decision to can his show (which he points out still rates as well as Miami Vice). While full of praise for the achievements of some outlets and journalists, Priestley sees a difficult future ahead for a media under threat from trivialisation and superficiality. 

Musician and movie fan Chris Knox reviews Heavenly Creatures in this excerpt from 1990s arts show The Edge. Knox calls Peter Jackson's film about real life friends and murderers Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker "brave and often astonishing". He praises Jackson's use of special effects for evoking the teenagers' heightened state of mind, but suspects that during other scenes a more naturalistic approach would have helped the characters. The clips from the Oscar-nominated movie include some of Weta's earliest digital effects, and Peter Jackson's cameo outside a cinema.  

This short film about a teen struggling to connect with his father took the top prize in NZ On Screen's inaugural ScreenTest film competition for high school students. Wakatipu High School pupil Lachie Clark made Alone with his Year 13 Media Studies classmates Ella Little and Alex Booker. Following the theme "coming of age", teen Charlie (Joel Malcolm-Smith) heads to the hills to escape his dad's harsh words. ScreenTest judge Jackie van Beek (The Breaker Upperers) praised the "beautiful landscapes, cinematography and editing". TV producer Philip Smith plays the dad.

Vocal group When the Cat's Away formed after Debbie Harwood, Dianne Swann, Annie Crummer and Margaret Urlich got together at the 1985 Music Awards and found common cause in a male dominated industry. Kim Willoughby was added as a fifth member; and, despite criticism for their reliance on cover songs, they enjoyed major commercial success — as chart toppers with 'Melting Pot' in 1988 and as one of NZ's biggest live acts of the late 80s. They disbanded in 1990. The cats reformed in 2001 (without Swann), touring and releasing a live album with Sharon O'Neill.

"I like to pull rabbits out of hats to surprise people". So said young director David Blyth, before unleashing Angel Mine. Inspired partly by the surrealism of Luis Buñuel, Blyth's inventive debut is one of a handful of Kiwi experimental feature films to win mainstream release. Featuring a whitebread suburban couple and their liberated alter egos, the film explores ideas of consumerism, sexuality, the media, and taboo-breaking. The film excited criticism from Patricia Bartlett, and a notorious addition to its R18 certificate: "contains punk cult material."

In late 1989 U2 played to 60,000 at Lancaster Park. Exhausted by a relentless schedule and criticism of their recent explorations of American music, the band hoped for a short, fun tour with BB King. These performances were shot for music show CV. Reaction to show opener ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ shows it was a good idea not to give up on the song during recording. After the classic ‘I Will Follow’, Bono invites a cool as a cucumber audience member up to play guitar on ‘People Get Ready’. U2 went on to reinvent themselves in Berlin with the acclaimed Achtung Baby.

Made six years after local TV broadcasting began, this wide-ranging 1966 documentary looks at the past and future of television in NZ. Political science lecturer Reg Harrison examines local content, a second channel, private enterprise, transmission challenges, editorial independence, sports coverage, and how TV’s expansion has affected other pursuits, and children. The doco includes interviews with privacy-keen Gordon Dryden and film legend Rudall Hayward, and MPs. Director Gordon Bick later argued that the NZBC had allowed "a good deal of criticism against itself" on screen.

This documentary looks at the life and work of acclaimed author Patricia Grace. Filmed at home, on marae and in classrooms, Grace discusses her writing process, her Hongoeka Bay upbringing, her children’s books, criticism of her work, and her Māori identity and belonging to the land (a theme of her then-recently successful novel Potiki). In particular she affirms the importance of writing from experience. The film features interviews with publishers and friends, and excerpts from Grace's stories are read and dramatised, including At the River, The Hills and Mutuwhenua.