Close Up

Close Up, which first debuted on Sunday nights in 1981, had a similar brief to earlier current affairs slot Compass: to present mini-documentaries on topical local issues. Stories in the primetime hour-long slot were wide-ranging, from hard news to human interest pieces, including profiles of National Party leader Jim Bolger and a 25-year-old foreign exchange dealer, future Prime Minister John Key. The show won Feltex Awards for most of the years it was on air. Close Up is not related to the later show of the same name which played after the main news bulletin, which was hosted by Mark Sainsbury until 2012.