50 Years of New Zealand Television: 6 - A Sense of Identity

I think New Zealanders have always liked to see themselves reflected in a rural sense, and they liked that with A Dog's Show.

– A Dog's Show narrator John Gordon

We were suffering from terrible colonial cringe, we just didn't want to be New Zealanders. There was no sense in those days, except on the sporting field perhaps and in war, that New Zealanders were proud of being New Zealanders.

– Broadcaster Judy Callingham on Kiwi attitudes in the 1960s

And then suddenly it started to dawn at the grassroots level that we were on our own, and since we were New Zealand and we were no longer hanging off the coattails of mother England, then perhaps we should find out who we are, and television is generally a great window into who we are.

– Director Geoff Murphy

And then along came Ginette Macdonald as Lynn of Tawa, who assumed a character who was very much a 'Kiwi gal'. That caused so many letters to the editor and upheavals, but I had to defend her because I said I've met women every day who sound exactly like Lynn of Tawa. Not like Ginette, who doesn't speak like that in real life.

– Max Cryer on Ginette McDonald's character Lynn of Tawa