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The Champion - First Episode
Television (Full Length Episode) – 1989
Author Maurice Gee’s boyhood experiences helped fuel this home front drama, expertly realised by director Peter Sharp (The Fire-Raiser). Rex Pascoe (Milan Borich, later a singer in band Pluto) is a war-obsessed schoolboy who befriends a local Dalmation boy, and reluctantly helps his father with his black-market dealings. Meanwhile American soldiers are making their presence felt. But not all of their attitudes are welcome. Racial tensions will soon be tested by the GI who is set to stay with Rex’s family. Director Peter Sharp writes here about battling tides — and learn where Maurice Gee's script first began.
The champion doesn’t have such a strong storyline. This is much more a story of character than incident, which is why I think it will appeal to older children.– Writer Maurice Gee in The Listener, 7 October 1989, page 29
Key Cast & Crew
See all 34 credits
Acknowledgements
NZ On Screen acknowledges the talent and creatives for allowing NZ On Screen to reproduce this title on this website
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