The Unauthorised History of New Zealand: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

The Unauthorised History of New Zealand is a New Zealand comedic history talk show series that tells the "real truth" behind the history of New Zealand.

Some of the archive footage seen on the show has never been seen on television before because it was deemed too shocking by TV executives to screen at the time. Some material created for the programme, including the 1920s-style animated series Happy Hori, is presented as though it were archival.

This country was shaped by visitors and the first episode examines the impact of such diverse guests as sheep, Colonel Sanders, the Shah of Iran and Muhammad Ali on New Zealand. Famous troublemakers such as Hongi Hika, the Ingham Twins and the Neil Roberts' feature in an episode devoted to Trouble.

Other episodes in the series consider some of the country's most powerful people, its legends, and reveal some of the most shocking and sexiest moments in the nation's history.

Series details

• Title: The Unauthorised History of New Zealand
• Format: Talk Show
• Language: English
• Genres: Comedy, History
• Premiere date: 2005-09-20
• Final broadcast date listed: 2008-09-14
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: TVNZ 1
• Network country: New Zealand
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 79011
• IMDb ID: tt0956284
• TVDB ID: 80999

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2005-09-20; final listed air date 2005-11-12; episode order: 7.
• Season 2: premiered 2007-02-12; final listed air date 2007-04-02; episode order: 7.
• Season 3: premiered 2008-01-06; final listed air date 2008-07-06; episode order: 7.
• Season 4: premiered 2008-07-13; final listed air date 2008-09-14; episode order: 7.

Source and licence

Adapted from The Unauthorised History of New Zealand on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.