The Longest Night

Some are apprehensive about the hardships ahead, but now it's too late for a change of mind.

– Narrator Eugene Fraser on the Kiwi team anticipating Antarctica's long winter

In the depths of the longest nights, emperor penguins will hatch and raise chicks. Today, the temperature drops to minus thirty degrees Celsius for the first time.

– Narrator Eugene Fraser on Antarctica's hardy resident penguin species

Fire drills are held regularly with McMurdo Base. There's more water in Antarctica than anywhere else in the world, but ice can't be used to fight fires. The dry air here also boosts combustion. These fire fighting practises in the bitter cold are deadly serious. 

– Narrator Eugene Fraser on the frequent fire drills held during the winter season

The 'polar plunge' demonstrates our frailty in this desperate place.

– Narrator Eugene Fraser on the tradition of the nude midwinter dip

I feel by my going, it's putting more burden on others in the team. I almost feel guilty that I've done something, or I've created something that's going to cause a whole lot of hassle for other people, but...that's the way it goes.

– Peter Harding reflects on his emergency evacuation from Scott Base in winter due to serious illness

Coming down here I thought I’d better go and buy a bloody book about natural history ... I went to the Heinemann's Bookshop, and there was no such thing as a natural history section. That reflected the knowledge of New Zealanders at the time. We knew nothing.

– Writer and presenter Peter Hayden on working for TVNZ’s Natural History Unit in the early 1980's, Otago Daily Times,1 August 2025