The Mainland Touch

Christchurch's The Mainland Touch began, with other regional news shows in Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin, after the amalgamation of TV One and SPTV in 1980. Early presenters of the often light-hearted Touch were Bryan Allpress and Rodney Bryant who became local institutions. Notable stories included a search for the source of the Avon (now part of the city's folk history); and a popular Christmas Cake Competition, which included a family recipe submitted by Robbie Deans. The regional news shows had bowed out by 1990, having yielded to the Holmes era.