This film showcases legendary running coach Arthur Lydiard's training methods, through some of his most famous pupils — including John Walker and Heather Thompson. 'Arthur's boys' (Peter Snell, Murray Halberg, Barry Magee) scored attention by winning unheralded medals at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Lydiard later led the 'flying Finns' to similar success. His method revolves around long runs that build stamina to complement speed. It was influential in popularising jogging globally. A highlight of the footage is Jack Foster's exhilarating descent of a steep scree slope.

This film documents Auckland's Round the Bays run. In 1980 jogging was booming, with coach Arthur Lydiard and a band of Olympic champs (Snell, Walker, etc) inspiring the way. Here, participants run and reflect, from a blind runner, to children and an army squad. Slo-mo sweat, sinew and samba shots frame the 70,000 runners as members of an infectious cult chasing the piper around the waterfront. Adidas, terry towelling and facial hair make the film a relaxed 70s update on Olympiad; directed by Sam Pillsbury it won awards at Chicago and Torino festivals.

In this documentary, writer and satirist Peter Hawes crosses the Bombay Hills border in his Morris van to record his take on mid 1980s Auckland. Pocked with as many puns as Auckland has volcanic craters, Hawes' profile is a sprawling, breezy look at New Zealand's largest city: from a Chase Corporation high rise to shearing sheep in Cornwall Park; from Eden Park to Bastion Point. Interviews (with politicians, sportspeople, gossip columnists, strip club fashion designers) are mixed with skits covering jogging, bridge building, shipwrecks, multiculturalism and sewers.

This documentary tells the story of New Zealand sport’s ‘golden hour’, when on 2 September 1960 in Rome, two Arthur Lydiard-coached runners won Olympic gold: 21-year-old Peter Snell in the 800 metres, then Murray Halberg in the 5000 metres. The underdog tale mixes archive footage with recreations and candid interviews (Halberg talks about his battle with disability and doubt). The NZ Herald's Russell Baillie praised the result as “riveting” and “our Chariots of Fire”. It screened on TV prior to the 2012 London Olympics and was nominated for an International Emmy Award in 2013. 

Ask Country Calendar viewers which shows they remember and inevitably the answer is "the spoofs" — satirical episodes that screened unannounced. Sometimes there was outrage but mostly the public enjoyed having the wool pulled over their eyes. Created by producer Tony Trotter and Bogor cartoonist Burton Silver, the first (in late 1977) was the fencing wire-playing farmer and his "rural music". This special episode collects the best of the spoofs, from the infamous radio-controlled dog, to the gay couple who ran a "stress-free" flock, and more malarkey besides.

This 1985 New Zealand tourism promo showcases Aotearoa society and industry. As the title suggests, the NFU-made film offers an impressionistic take on the subject. Bookended by a dawn and dusk chorus, the narration-free survey cuts between primary products (milk, logs, wool etc) and their manufacturing processes, and then shows people at work and play — from futures traders to pounamu carvers, contemporary dancers to cricketers. Date stamps of the era include a mass aerobics class, hydroslide action, and saxophone and guitar solos on the soundtrack.

Expressions of Sexuality examined the impact of the sexual revolution on New Zealand society in the late 1980s. In this episode, the trade-offs between married and single life (and the areas in between) are recounted through candid interviews with seven 'unattached' men and women, including a solo mother of five children and a celibate Catholic priest. Filmed in 1984, it took director Allison Webber two years to convince TVNZ that local audiences were 'ready' for what were still seen as taboo subjects.

Brit MP Austin Mitchell began his career as a lecturer and broadcaster in New Zealand, back in the 1960s. He went on to write about Aotearoa in classic 1972 book The Half Gallon Quarter Acre Pavlova Paradise. In this final part of his 2002 return to Godzone, Mitchell takes Auckland's pulse in a pre-Supercity era, with John Banks as mayor and the America’s Cup in the cabinet. He also examines music and sport. The series ends with musings on Kiwi identity from Helen Clark, Sam Neill, and Michael King. Look out for a young Valerie Adams roughly 4 minutes 30 seconds into clip four.

This instructional film for runners — fronted by Olympic 5000m silver medallist and world record holder Dick Quax — looks at implementing the techniques of coach Arthur Lydiard. From fostering world champions on Waitakere hills, Lydiard's method evolved into a system of building stamina to complement speed. Quax, Dr Peter Snell and other Lydiard protégés look at the science and practice, from training — the high mileage mantra, fartleks, catapults — to race-day strategy: front-running and 'the kick' (with John Walker's 1976 1,500m Olympic win used as an example).

This 2016 short film follows a young woman (Florence Noble, from The Jaquie Brown Diaries) as she deals with debilitating panic attacks. On a road trip to a beach party, a friend (Jordan Vaha’akolo) sympathises with her struggles. Later he comes around for a cuppa to be there for her. Director Rachel Ross based the story on her personal experience of severe anxiety. "I was shocked to hear that people were struggling as severely as I was but kept it quiet. They were ashamed. It was this journey and realisation that catapulted the premise of this short film."