In the beginning — of both movies and books — is the word. Many classic Kiwi films and television dramas have come from books (Sleeping Dogs, Whale Rider); and many writers have found new readers, through being celebrated and adapted on screen. This collection showcases Kiwi books and authors on screen. Plus check out booklover Finlay Macdonald's backgrounder.

Don McGlashan has played drums, horns, guitars and PVC pipes, created memorable songs with Blam Blam Blam, The Mutton Birds and as a solo artist, and won a run of awards for his soundtrack work. As Nick Bollinger puts it in this backgrounder, his songs are good for occasions big and small. 

This episode of rugby series The Game Of Our Lives looks at the impact the sport has had on race relations in New Zealand. The country's history of rugby forging bonds between Māori and Pākehā is a stark contrast to South Africa's apartheid policy. Tries and Penalties focuses on the troubles between Aotearoa and South Africa —  from coloured players George Nepia and Ranji Wilson being excluded from All Blacks tours to South Africa, to the infamous 1981 Springboks tour, and Nelson Mandela opening the 1995 Rugby World Cup final between the two teams.

In this episode from season three of Talk Talk, Finlay Macdonald interviews one of his former teachers, All Blacks coach Graham Henry. Bypassing rugby intricacies like the dark arts of scrummaging, the talk is about Henry's background in education and how it has influenced his coaching career. Filmed prior to World Cup 2011 glory, Henry muses on the pressure to win, dealing with stress, and high public/media expectation. Musical guest Dave Dobbyn performs 'Howling at the Moon' — chosen by Henry because "he sings 'Loyal'" — and explains his relationship with that song.

In this episode of Talk Talk musician Don McGlashan discusses politics, growing up and the art of communicating emotions and ideas, with journalist Finlay MacDonald. The Talk Talk host starts by asking McGlashan to explain how he managed to offend Kiwi seafood lovers across the country with a political analogy during the 2008 general election. Then the pair explore McGlashan's early inspirations and musical development. McGlashan finishes with a live rendition of his 2009 single 'Marvellous Year', complete with accordian, theremin and strings.

Under the Covers was a spin-off series from TVNZ 7 book series The Good Word, compiling Finlay Macdonald’s 10 minute pieces on great Kiwi books into their own show. Each episode features three books and tells the story behind them via interviews, readings and archive footage. This episode featured Barry Crump’s A Good Keen Man, David Lange’s My Life, and — in this excerpt — Jane Mander’s The Story of a New Zealand River, the 1917 novel that some say was an uncredited inspiration for Jane Campion's The Piano. Sam Hunt provides a spirited defence of Mander's book.

Award winning novelist Emily Perkins presents a series about “books and the people who love them”. The follow-up to her previous series The Book Show — and looking like it might be set in a graffitied bunker in Auckland’s Myers Park — it managed to be chatty without being frivolous, and to take itself seriously without being worthy. Regular features included a panel discussion about the book of the week, a visit to a book group, a guest talking about their favourite book and Finlay Macdonald highlighting a notable New Zealand book, in his ‘Under the Covers’ feature.

On this episode of the book show hosted by novelist Emily Perkins, the panel discusses Rachael King’s gothic toned second novel Magpie Hall. There’s a visit to Governors Bay on Banks Peninsular to meet a book club with a multi-national feel; and TVNZ journalist Tim Wilson talks about his favourite book – the ultimate in weighty tomes, Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past. In his ‘Under the Covers’ piece, Finlay Macdonald explores ‘A Good Keen Man’, Barry Crump’s breakthrough novel from 1960 – the work of a “man of the land with the soul of a poet”.

This four-part series from 1996 presents the game of rugby as a mirror for New Zealand social history. Written by Finlay Macdonald, it sets out to explain how rugby became such an intrinsic part of New Zealand's identity. Each episode visits iconic paddocks (from schools to stadiums) and players (from amateurs Nepia, Meads, and Shelford, to professional star Lomu); and observers muse on the influence of the inflated pig's bladder on Kiwi culture, including historian Jock Phillips, writer Ian Cross and journalist TP Mclean.

This four-part series explores New Zealand social history through rugby, from the first rugby club in 1870 to the 1995 World Cup. In this episode commentators muse on the roots of rugby in a settler society, in "a man's country". Rugby's unique connection with Māori, from Tom Ellison and the Natives’ tour to a Te Aute College haka, is explored; as well as the national identity-defining 1905 Originals’ tour, and the relationship between footy and the battlefield. As the Finlay Macdonald-penned narration reflects: “Maybe it's just a game, but it's the game of our lives”.