The Killing of Kane

This 1971 teleplay marks the first time the controversial topic of colonial conflict was portrayed on Kiwi TV screens. Taranaki writer Warren Dibble called on many sources — including Māori oral histories — to dramatise what followed after two Pākehā deserters (played by Peter Vere-Jones and Alan Jervis) joined Māori resistance leader Tītokowaru during the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s. Real life Reverend Napi Waaka (Ngāti Pikiao) plays Tītokowaru. The acting won praise. Shot on location in the Taranaki, The Killing of Kane was the first Kiwi TV drama filmed in colour (although it originally screened in black and white).