Peppermint Twist

Peppermint Twist’s pastel-tinted portrait of 1960s puberty floated onto New Zealand television screens in 1987. Despite winning a solid teen following, it only lasted for one series. Set amongst a group of teens in small town Roseville (in reality the outdoors set on the edge of Wellington, originally used for Country GP), the show’s stylised look and sound had few Kiwi precedents — though its links to classic American show Happy Days are clear. Created by Ginette Macdonald, the show made liberal, and increasingly confident use of period music, with each episode named after a pop song of the day.