Revolution
1996
Documentary
Four-part series Revolution mapped sweeping social and economic change in New Zealand society in the 1980s and early 1990s. Judged Best Factual Series at the 1997 NZ Television Awards, it collected together archive footage, and interviews with the major players. Said producer Marcia Russell: “We wanted to make Revolution because we believed that unless we re-run and re-examine our recent history we are in constant danger of forgetting, and forgetting can render us passive about the present and slaves of the future.
Production
NZ on Air
Language
EN
Status
Ended
First Aired
June 19, 1996
Last Aired
July 10, 1996
Created By
Marcia Russell
Where to Watch
Region US · Lang EN
US
No providers available for this region.
Seasons & Episodes
Select a season to view episodes. Reddit links may contain spoilers.
Season
E1
Fortress New Zealand
Air date: 1996-06-19
This first episode focuses on NZ's radical transformation from a heavily regulated welfare state to a petri dish for free market ideology. It includes interviews with key political and business figures of the day, who reveal how the dire economic situation by the end of Robert Muldoon's reign made it relatively easy for Roger Douglas to implement extreme reform
E2
The Grand Illusion
Air date: 1996-06-26
This second episode argues that in its first term in office, the Labour Government promoted neoliberal reform via illusory ideas of consensus and fairness, while PM David Lange mined goodwill from its indie anti-nuclear policy (famously in an Oxford Union debate, see third clip). The interviews include key figures in politics, the public service and business: an age of easy lending and yuppie excess is recalled, while those in rural areas recount the downside of job losses.
E3
The Great Divide
Air date: 1996-07-03
This third episode looks at the lurch of the Kiwi stock market from boom to bust in 1987, and the growing philosophical divide between “head boys” PM David Lange and finance minister Roger 'Rogernomics' Douglas. Within two months of the October 1987 stock market crash, $21 billion was lost from the value of NZ shares. Lange and Douglas give accounts of how their differing views on steering the NZ economy eventually resulted in both their resignations.
E4
The New Country
Air date: 1996-07-10
This final episode sums up, after examining "the second wave" of neoliberal reform when National took power in 1990 shortly after Telecom was sold to American interests. Incoming finance minister Ruth "mother of all budgets" Richardson oversaw a reduction of welfare payments, a shake-up of the health system, and a curbing of union powers. Richardson: "in a human sense I understood that [community outrage], but that wasn't going to deflect me".
Cast
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