Jocko - Man with a Gun

In this episode of TVNZ's high country drama (penned by Pukemanu writer Julian Dickon and directed by Roger Donaldson), Jocko (Bruce Allpress) is reunited with two fellow Korean War veterans — but one is now an escaped convict and the other a police officer heading the manhunt. Stan, another escapee (a suitably manic Bruno Lawrence), stirs things up but the real drama here involves unfinished business for three former soldiers from a conflict 25 years earlier. It’s also very much a man’s world, without a single female character to be seen. Jocko first made his screen debut in 1980 TV movie High Country.

Jocko is a pretty together sort of guy. He’s seen a lot of life and death, has the wisdom of experience. He’s an itinerant because he doesn’t want to settle down. He’s a South Islander, one of those Southland or Central Otago people who are a breed unto themselves. Truly magnificent people. Salt of the earth.

– Bruce Allpress on his character Jocko, The Listener, 10 May 1980, page 16

Key Cast & Crew

Bruno Lawrence

As: Stan

Desmond Kelly

As: China

Bruce Allpress

As: Jocko

Julian Dickon

Writer

Martyn Sanderson

As: Ham

Roger Donaldson

Director