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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by TheNZCactus (talk | contribs) at 02:46, 1 April 2016 (Reworked introduction section, and added History and Production sections as well as relevant links and citations.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Country Calendar
Narrated byFrank Torley
Opening theme"Hillbilly Child" by the Alan Moorhouse Band
Country of originNew Zealand
No. of episodes1,000+
Production
Camera setupWidescreen
Running time30 minutes (including commercials)
Original release
NetworkTVNZ ONE (1966–present)
Release6 March 1966 (6 March 1966) –
present

Country Calendar is a New Zealand documentary television series focusing on rural life in New Zealand. It has been aired on TV One since March 1966, making it New Zealand’s longest-running television series, and is currently broadcast at 7.00pm each Saturday.[1] Since 2013 the show has aired for a season of 30 weeks per year, however in 2016 is being broadcast for 40 weeks due to the show’s 50th anniversary occurring in March. Episodes from the 2013 season to present are available to watch online, through TVNZ OnDemand.

Country Calendar is currently produced by Julian O’Brien, with associate producer Dan Henry. Frank Torley was well known as the narrator of the show, and also produced the show for 23 years. Torley died in March 2016 following a short battle with cancer.[2]

The Country Calendar theme song is from the song “Hillbilly Child” by the Alan Moorhouse Band. Hyundai New Zealand is the show’s naming rights sponsor, with previous sponsors including The National Bank, financial services company AMP, and Tux dog biscuits.

History

Country Calendar was first broadcast on 6 March 1966, primarily as a news show for farmers. It was presented by Fred Barnes, and was approximately 14 minutes in length. The show was primarily shot in a studio, with around 5 minutes shot in the field usually, due to budget constraints.[3] The first field report focussed on a Central Otago apricot orchard.

The show was originally developed to be strictly for farmers, however when Tony Trotter became producer of the show in 1974 he decided to market the show towards a more general audience.[4][5] Trotter also chose the Country Calendar theme music, Hillybilly Child by British musician Alan Moorhouse, which is still used by the show today.

Frank Torley began contributing to the show as a reporter in its first few years, and 10 years later moved to the show full-time, becoming producer in 1980. He is well known as the “gravelly Mr Country Calendar voice”, and became the show’s full time narrator from the start of 2014.[6] Torley retired from the show in October 2015, after developing vocal nodules. He passed away in March 2016 after a short battle with cancer.[7]

In the 1990s Country Calendar moved to Saturday nights, after 23 years being broadcast on Sunday. The 1990s was also the first time a sponsor was added to the show’s title.[8]

Country Calendar has received NZ On Air funding since 1991, and is the longest running programme they have funded.[9]

In 2005 a special 40 Years of Country Calendar episode was broadcast, comprising some of the show’s highlights and detailing the show’s history.[5]

In 2011 Hyundai New Zealand became the show’s naming rights sponsor, taking over from The National Bank. 2011 also marked the first year the show was broadcast in high definition.[10]

Similar to during the show’s 40th anniversary in 2005, in 2016 a special episode titled Country Calendar: 50 Golden Years was broadcast to celebrate Country Calendar being on air for 50 years. The special was hosted by broadcaster Jim Hickey, who had previously hosted the show for 5 years from 1998.[3][11]

A Country Calendar exhibition will open at Waikato museum on 11 June 2016, to celebrate 50 years of the show.[12]

Production

It has been suggested that Country Calendar is the second-longest-running television series in the world (by number of years on air), after Coronation Street.[13] There have been at least 1000 episodes broadcast, although the show’s producer suggests between 1200 and 1250 is more likely.[14]

Country Calendar is currently produced by Julian O’Brien, who first became involved in the show in 1985 before taking a break and then returning as producer in 2005.[14] The show’s associate producer is Dan Henry, who is also the narrator, taking over from former narrator Frank Torley after his retirement in October 2015. O’Brien and Henry also direct the show, along with directors Katherine Edmond, Kerryanne Evans, Michael Huddleston, Celia Jaspers, Richard Langston, Roz Mason, Howard Taylor, and Vicki Wilkinson-Baker.[15] The show’s researcher is Vivienne Jeffs, who has held the role since 2007.

From 2013 the show has had 30 episodes per season, although this was increased to 40 episodes in 2016 due to it being the show’s 50th year on air. According to Country Calendar’s production blog, the show will have crew on the road for close to 250 days, in order to produce the 40 episodes.[16] Country Calendar usually focuses on one story per episode.

In 2016 Country Calendar received $566,720 of NZ On Air funding, from the Documentary and Factual programme fund. This was increased from $425,036 in 2015, the same amount as in 2014 and 2013, due to the 10 extra episodes in 2016.[17] NZ On Air say that Country Calendar is “consistently the highest-rating NZ On Air funded programme, with more than half a million people tuning in every week.”[18] 583,500 people aged 5 or over watched the 2015 series on average.

Country Calendar is known to sometimes feature spoofs, where the series will occasionally break format and air an unannounced satirical episode.[19] A spoof was first aired in 1977 with a farmer playing a fence as a musical instrument, and since then have included sheep dogs controlled by radio and a high fashion range of rural clothing, among others.[20] While the spoofs were generally well-received, the radio-controlled dog episode resulted in numerous calls of it being inhumane. A Country Calendar – Spoofs Special highlighting the spoof episodes of the show was broadcast in 1999.[20] There have been no spoof episodes in recent seasons of the show.

There are 18 Country Calendar DVDs on sale, including ‘Best of’ DVDs for each season from 2006 to 2015, as well as DVDs comprising episodes on different topics. These include Country Calendar – Women of the Land, Country Calendar Goes Fishing, Country Calendar on Horseback, Country Calendar – A Small Slice of Paradise, and Country Calendar Goes Green. The 40th anniversary special is also available on DVD.[21] The NZ On Screen website also features some archived special episodes of the show which can be viewed online.

Episodes

Season 49 (2014)

No. Title Original air date NZ viewers
(thousands)
49.01"Rearing to Go"15 February 2014 (2014-02-15)454.5
49.02"Last of the Line"22 February 2014 (2014-02-22)450.8
49.03"Black Sheep"1 March 2014 (2014-03-01)400.0
49.04"Small is Beautiful"8 March 2014 (2014-03-08)489.6
49.05"Island Harvest"15 March 2014 (2014-03-15)518.4
49.06"Becca Takes Over"22 March 2014 (2014-03-22)552.3
49.07"Bonjour Paringa"29 March 2014 (2014-03-29)512.1
49.08"Chaos Springs"5 April 2014 (2014-04-05)520.5
49.09"Life in the Hills"12 April 2014 (2014-04-12)593.7
49.10"Coming Up Roses"19 April 2014 (2014-04-19)499.2
49.11"Banking on Wool"26 April 2014 (2014-04-26)545.5
49.12"Her Father's Daughter"3 May 2014 (2014-05-03)508.7
49.13"The Good Weed"10 May 2014 (2014-05-10)507.4
49.14"A Dream Run"17 May 2014 (2014-05-17)552.1
49.15"River Run"24 May 2014 (2014-05-24)464.1
49.16"A Fruitful Life"31 May 2014 (2014-05-31)569.9
49.17"Top Team"7 June 2014 (2014-06-07)540.6
49.18"Two in the Bush"14 June 2014 (2014-06-14)615.6
49.19"The Nut Farm"21 June 2014 (2014-06-21)600.3
49.20"On the Right Track"28 June 2014 (2014-06-28)562.8
49.21"Milk to the Max"5 July 2014 (2014-07-05)620.6
49.22"Leader of the Pack"12 July 2014 (2014-07-12)624.9
49.23"Flying High"19 July 2014 (2014-07-19)650.2
49.24"Born to Jump"26 July 2014 (2014-07-26)594.0
49.25"High Octane Country"2 August 2014 (2014-08-02)587.7
49.26"It's a Buzz"9 August 2014 (2014-08-09)566.1
49.27"Wild Ride"16 August 2014 (2014-08-16)599.2
49.28"Sniff the Breeze"23 August 2014 (2014-08-23)483.7
49.29"Taste of the South"30 August 2014 (2014-08-30)580.2
49.30"Here to Stay"6 September 2014 (2014-09-06)589.0

Season 50 (2015)

No. Title Original air date NZ viewers
(thousands)
50.01"Dutch Courage"4 April 2015 (2015-04-04)538.9
50.02"An Open Door"11 April 2015 (2015-04-11)N/A

See also

References

  1. ^ "1966 - key events - The 1960s - NZHistory". www.nzhistory.net.nz. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Country Calendar's Frank Torley dies". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Fifty years of capturing Kiwi farming". Stuff. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Tony Trotter - NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  5. ^ a b "40 Years of Country Calendar - Television - NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  6. ^ "Frank Torley - NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  7. ^ "Country Calendar's Frank Torley dies aged 75". New Zealand Herald. 29 March 2016. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  8. ^ "Background - 40 Years of Country Calendar - Television - NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  9. ^ "Country Calendar". www.nzonair.govt.nz. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  10. ^ "Country Calendar shacks up with Hyundai, adding fuel to glue factory rumours for National Bank stallion". stoppress.co.nz. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  11. ^ "Jim Hickey - NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  12. ^ "Hyundai Country Calendar to celebrate 50 years on air at Waikato Museum - Waikato Museum". waikatomuseum.co.nz. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  13. ^ "1966 - key events - The 1960s - NZHistory". www.nzhistory.net.nz. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  14. ^ a b "On TV, March 5-11: including Country Calendar and Kolkata with Sue Perkins - New Zealand Listener". New Zealand Listener. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  15. ^ Country Calendar Team, retrieved 1 April 2016
  16. ^ "Producer's Diary - autumn 2016". TVNZ Ondemand. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  17. ^ "National TV". Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  18. ^ "Country Calendar". www.nzonair.govt.nz. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  19. ^ "Weekend Rewind: Country Calendar turns 50". New Zealand Herald. 5 March 2016. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  20. ^ a b "Background - Country Calendar - Spoofs Special - Television - NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  21. ^ "Hyundai Country Calendar on DVD". TVNZ Ondemand. Retrieved 1 April 2016.

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