HD Makeover for Making NZ

Nearly three years after its original run, Prime will screen the documentary series Making New Zealand for a third time — but for the first time in HD.

The three-part Top Shelf production (7.30 Sundays from this weekend) chronicles the construction of our infrastructure, namely roads, dams, bridges and railway lines. Scarcely sounds riveting (so to speak), does it?

As NZ Herald’s Nick Grant quipped of the premiere: “It was with a barely stifled yawn that I settled down to watch the first episode, which covers the development of New Zealand’s roads, while pondering how often the path to worthy tedium is paved with well-intended funding from NZ On Air.

“Oh, me of little faith. Despite the platitudinous phrases narrator Mark Clare was made to mouth in the opening couple of minutes, it quickly became apparent the opening episode of Making New Zealand is an absolute corker.”

Viewers must have agreed, as NZ On Air has bankrolled a second series, which will cover the forestry, construction and aviation industries as well as a previously funded episode on mining.

Top Shelf head of development Brian Holland is delighted Prime has elected to repeat Making NZ in HD on the Sky platform.

“Sky’s media traffic manager contacted me to see if we had HD versions before the re-broadcast, which we did,” he says.

“They did the same with our series Sachie’s Kitchen [Prime, 4pm Sundays]. Again, this was a third play, and even off-peak, but they wanted to go HD, which is great.

“As producers, we’re thrilled to witness the network’s interest in seeing our projects going out in the best quality possible.

“Making New Zealand is archive-rich, which, of course, is very SD, but the newly-shot HD scenes are great.”