Savage Play

This three part miniseries is loosely based on a remarkable tour by the NZ Natives rugby team, which played 107 games in Australasia and Great Britain in 1888 and 89. At its heart is the love story between Pony — the grandson of a Māori chief, and one of the side’s stars — and Charlotte, the granddaughter of an English Earl (Ian Richardson, from political drama House of Cards). The rugby tour provided the first, occasionally troubled exposure to Māori for many in the United Kingdom. The Anglo-Kiwi-Australian production was filmed in Scotland and New Zealand, from a script by Kiwi-born director Alan Lindsay (Hang on a Minute Mate).