Heartland

Heartland was a long-running series where affable presenter Gary McCormick explored a different Kiwi community for each episode. Location and local legend are relayed as McCormick (or occasionally Annie Whittle, Maggie Barry and Kerre McIvor) interacts with locals — including artist Ralph Hotere and tiger slipper-fan Chloe of Wainuiomata. The popular, award-winning series connected mostly-urban Kiwis with faraway corners of the country and a homely sense of shared identity. Heartland was inspired by an earlier collaboration between McCormick and director Bruce Morrison called Raglan by the Sea in 1987.