The Longest Winter - Early Days (Episode One)

New Zealand’s economy is in serious trouble in the first episode of this award-winning drama series about The Great Depression. An ailing Prime Minister and a weak government seem powerless in the face of a downward spiral caused by rising unemployment and falling export prices. Meanwhile, the plight of a boot maker seeking work while people are being laid off all around him, and a jeweller struggling to keep his business afloat and food on his family’s table bring home the human cost and social divisiveness being caused by the worsening crisis.

A dramatic and atmospheric recreation of an era that lingers like a nightmare in the consciousness of many New Zealanders.

– Listener writer Jill McCracken, 7 December 1974

Key Cast & Crew

Tony Isaac

Producer

Michael Noonan

Writer, Actor

Charles Walker

Actor

Bill Stalker

Actor

Apirana Mahuika

Actor

Elizabeth Martin

As: Victoria Gibson