In September 1985 Satellite Spies released 'Destiny In Motion', their first single. It made waves in the NZ charts, peaking at number 14 and spending 10 weeks in the top 50. The corresponding video is stylishly minimalist. Lead singer Mark Loveys and guitarist Deane Sutherland wander darkened back alleys in the rain, and encounter a mysterious blue triangle. The song proved a good launchpad: in March of 1986 Satellite Spies found themselves opening for Dire Straits when the group arrived in New Zealand. After that, Loveys and Sutherland were destined to move in different orbits.

In this highlights special culled from the first four years of Eating Media Lunch, presenter Jeremy Wells manages to keep a straight face while mercilessly satirising all manner of mainstream media. Leaping channels and barriers of taste, the episode shows the fine line between send-up and target. The 'Worst of EML' tests the patience of talkback radio hosts and goes behind the demise of celebrity merino Shrek; plus terrorist blooper reels, Destiny Church protests, Target hijinks, and our first indigenous porno flick (you have been warned: not suitable for children).

Lovers move towards each other through space and time in this episode of te reo series Aroha. Tapu (Cliff Curtis) plays a doctor who is unnerved by the strange behaviour of elderly patient Kahu. Kahu's death affects his niece Irikura (Ngarimu Daniels) deeply, and at the tangi secrets are revealed. Tapu and Irikura are haunted by visions of a shared past; Kahu's ghost has plans for them. This episode played in black and white. Celebrated Māori actor and mentor Don Selwyn plays Kahu. Director Guy Moana created tā moko and carvings for classic 1994 film Once Were Warriors.

Campbell Live was Three's flagship current affairs programme for a decade. Despite a public campaign to save it, the show ended on 29 May 2015. This final episode presents a greatest hits reel. Alongside acclaimed reporting (Novopay, the Pike River mine disaster and collapse of Solid Energy, the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake) there are campaigns for healthy school lunches, and to get the All Blacks to play in Samoa; plus marvellous moments like the 2011 Rugby World Cup final. An emotional John Campbell tautokos his team, and signs off: "Ka kite anō and a very good evening indeed." 

The birth of television in the 1960s meant that suddenly protests and civil unrest could be broadcast directly into Kiwi homes. This episode of 50 Years of New Zealand Television looks at many of those events — involving everything from the Vietnam War and the Springbok tour, to Bastion Point and the Homosexual Law Reform Act. It also examines how being televised altered their impact. Interviews with both protestors and reporters provide a unique insight into what it was like to be living through extraordinary periods of New Zealand history.

Wellington is given the Baraka 'time-scape' treatment in this short film by Richard Sidey, made while studying at Massey University. There's no characters or conventional narrative, but the life cycle of a city is captured in a Koyaanisqatsi-like compilation of day and night-time scenes. Clouds scud by in hyper-time-lapse and slow-motion, and Wellington landmarks (harbour, bucket fountain, turbine etc) are seen anew, cut to a soundtrack by percussion group Strike. The tone poem won best student film at the American Conservation Film Festival 2007.

This series saw longtime Radio New Zealand National host Kim Hill foray from behind the microphone to in front of the cameras. The format was 25-min one-on-one interviews with politicians and newsmakers; it was designed to allow "the time to really discuss an issue ... in doing so we're able to get more context and more enlightenment." Interviewees ranged from ex-PM David Lange, Destiny Church supremo Brian Tamaki, comedian John Clarke, feminist author Germaine Greer, and Australian activist-writer John Pilger (with whom Hill had an infamous stoush).

The story of Satellite Spies is a Rashomon-style tale, whose details change depending on which website you read. Songwriter/vocalist Mark Loveys and guitarist Deane Sutherland both lay claim to the band name. What is clear is that in the mid 80s Satellite Spies supported Dire Straits, won a Most Promising Group Award and had a top 20 hit with 'Destiny in Motion'. After that Sutherland left the group, copyrighted the name, and set up a second Satellite Spies in Australia. The NZ Spies continued until 1988.   

This music video features Satellite Spies as the headline band at a high school ball. Unusually for a local music video made in the 80s, it features a scene-setting intro sequence before the song begins: amidst the excited throngs, a boy struggles to work up the courage to ask his crush for a dance. The second single off the band's debut LP Destiny In Motion, 'I Wish I'd Asked' failed to chart, despite the band agreeing it was the standout song. After hearing the track, Mark Knopfler gave Satellite Spies the nod to support Dire Straits when they played in New Zealand in 1986.

The music video for this 1987 Satellite Spies single is a straight down the line performance piece, focusing on vocalist/songwriter Mark Loveys. After scoring a hit single in 1985 – 'Destiny in Motion' – Satellite Spies won Most Promising Band and Most Promising Male Vocalist at that year’s NZ Music Awards. This single was recorded for their second album, which would finally be released in 2011 as Us Against the World. The album was made without guitarist Deane Sutherland, who left the group in 1986 — and later launched a band of the same name in Australia. Rock’n'roll!