During World War I five members of the New Zealand Division were executed for military crimes  — four for desertion and one for mutiny. Two of them, Victor Spencer and John Braithwaite, are profiled in this episode of Great War Stories. Spencer, an apprentice engineer from Bluff, was twice convicted of desertion, and put to death — despite an officer he'd known at Gallipoli vouching for his good character. Braithwaite was executed for mutiny, after trying to defuse a fight over the inhumane living conditions of military prisons. In 2000 the government pardoned all five executed men.

This documentary looks at the construction of a replica of the HMS Bounty, in Whangerei. The ship was commissioned to be built for a David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia) film of the famous mutiny. Fidelity to the original is paramount, except the 20th Century edition has a steel hull. Construction of the boat carries on regardless of uncertain fortunes of the film, as producer Dino De Laurentiis and David Lean part ways. The Lean film was ultimately unmade after financing faltered, but the boat went on to star in Kiwi director Roger Donaldson's film of the story.

This documentary charts the voyage from New Zealand to Tahiti of a replica of the HMS Bounty, destined to be the star of Kiwi director Roger Donaldson’s film of the famous mutiny. The boat was built in Whangerei from The Bounty’s original Admiralty plans, commissioned for an unmade David Lean film of the story. It's not all plain sailing as engines fail, the power supply falters and winds drop, but she arrives in Tahiti in time for the first scenes of the Mel Gibson-starring film. A parallel voyage in an open boat by one of Bligh's descendants also features.

In the early 1980s, director Roger Donaldson was part of a new generation of downunder screen talent, making their mark overseas. In this extended interview, the nominally Kiwi, Australian-born filmmaker talks about success, failure, famous actors, the talented Bruno Lawrence, and his big-budget remake of Mutiny on the Bounty. Donaldson describes how stateside reviews of Smash Palace paved his path to Hollywood, and talks with candour about his feisty first encounter with legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis – who invited him to take on The Bounty. 

While in Tahiti to scout for locations for a film (ultimately unrealised) on the mutiny of the HMS Bounty, legendary British director David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia, Dr Zhivago) became fascinated by a lost anchor jettisoned by Captain Cook in 1773. Produced for New Zealand’s South Pacific Television, this film follows the anchor’s discovery — by River Kwai bridge exploder Eddie Fowlie — and salvage. A rare 'documentary' credit for Lean, the film was written by his regular scripting collaborator Robert Bolt; Kiwi Kelly Tarlton provides expert dive guidance.

Inspired by the ageing Burt Munro — who took his home-engineered motorbike to America, and won a land speed record — this passion project was Roger Donaldson's first locally made film in two decades. Variety called it a "geriatric Rocky on wheels”; Roger Ebert praised Anthony Hopkins' performance as one of the most endearing of his career. The result sold to 126 countries, spent five weeks in the Australian top six, and became Aotearoa's highest-grossing local film — at least until Boy in 2010. Alongside an excerpt and making of material, Costa Botes writes about the film here.