Tara Ward counts down the top ten moments from ‘First Wife’, the eighth episode of Outlander season three. Contains major spoilers, obviously. You know you’re in for a treat when Outlander begins with a close-up of a pie. Feast your eyes, my pretties, because that pie was a beautiful piece of symbolism about the endless pleasures bursting … Read more
With another tremendous season of Rachel Hunter’s Tour of Beauty coming to an end, Tara Ward rounds up some key tips for better living. Kiwi legend and my latest imaginary BFF Rachel Hunter spent the last few weeks travelling through the Americas on an epic search for beauty. I didn’t think she’d find anywhere more … Read more
Tara Ward counts down the top ten moments from ‘Creme de Menthe’, the seventh episode of Outlander season three. Contains major spoilers, obviously. There were bedroom hijinks aplenty in this week’s episode of Outlander, but sadly none of them involved Jamie Fraser’s naked butt cheeks. I thought Jamie’s post-coital wig was the worst crime their bedroom would … Read more
Despite 30 years of relentless sales, the Briscoes Lady remains as energetic and positive as ever. Tara Ward tries to figure out why. New Zealanders can always be certain of three things – the prime minister cursing the All Blacks, Mike Hosking wearing ripped jeans and Briscoes having a sale. As we know, a Briscoes sale … Read more
Tara Ward counts down the top ten moments from ‘A. Malcolm’, the sixth episode of Outlander season three. Contains major spoilers, obviously. Say your goodbyes, Sassenachs, because this week’s Outlander will strike you down dead. The emotion will slay you, the passion will cut you into a thousand tiny pieces, and you’ll end up a wizened, wrinkled … Read more
Tara Ward watches British sitcom Mum, a show for anyone who has found themselves in an inescapable family mess. What’s the story? Mum is a family comedy seen through the eyes of newly widowed Cathy. The show follows Cathy as she negotiates the first year after her husband’s death, beginning in January on the day … Read more
Tara Ward counts down the top ten moments from ‘Freedom & Whiskey’, the fifth episode of Outlander season three. Contains major spoilers, obviously. Sing me a song of a lass that is gone and then rocks on up again, totes out of the blue, wearing a strange coat and humming the Batman theme song. Everyone join in, … Read more
Tara Ward counts down the top ten moments from ‘Of Lost Things’, the fourth episode of Outlander season three. Contains major spoilers, obviously. Spare a thought for Jamie Fraser, the man who cannot escape his own animal magnetism. This season, no matter where he travels or how bad his hair is, Jamie’s golden charms have proved irresistible … Read more
Is Vikings fake news or did they really have those exuberant ponytails? Before the new season comes to Lightbox in December, Tara Ward tides herself over with some learning in Real Vikings. After a marathon session of the TV series Vikings, I’m left with as many questions as Rollo has hair combs. Who were the … Read more
Superfan Tara Ward counts down the top ten moments from ‘All Debts Paid’, the third episode of Outlander season three. Contains major spoilers, obviously. [Editor’s note: Before we go any further, if you haven’t watched the third episode of Outlander and don’t want a major plot point spoiled then YOU SHALL NOT PASS. Otherwise, please enjoy.] I’m … Read more
Last seen two weeks ago sipping on a pink panther at Toni Street’s birthday party, Mike Hosking made his return to terrestrial television last night. Tara Ward was watching, and found herself sucked right into his eye-rolling vortex. The planets aligned, the clouds cleared and rainbows filled the skies when Mike Hosking returned to Seven Sharp … Read more
Superfan Tara Ward counts down the top ten moments from episode two of Outlander season three. Contains spoilers, obviously. If you thought last week’s episode of Outlander was heartbreaking, then you need to prepare yourselves. I have bad, bad news. Something terrible has happened to Jamie Fraser, and it looks like this: Jamie has 99 problems and … Read more
Tara Ward gazes back through time to remember TV One’s campaign dog Toby, the goodest boy to ever grace the small screen. Nothing says “watch this channel” more than a directionally-challenged dog trapped in a labyrinth of notable TV personalities. So it makes perfect sense that when 1991 TV One launched a promo campaign featuring … Read more
Superfan Tara Ward counts down the top ten moments from the triumphant return of Outlander season three. Contains spoilers, obviously. Outlander is back! #Droughtlander is over, the never-ending tartan thirst is gone and we can once again drown in a hot ginger monsoon of time-travelling drama and adventure. I want ginger kisses! I want mashed potatoes! … Read more
As Suits clocks up its 100th episode, Tara Ward rounds up more shows on Lightbox that have soared past triple digits. Only very special things make it to 100, like the Queen Mother, Kiwi shoe polish and legal drama Suits, which celebrates its 100th episode today on Lightbox. Suits has wrangled its way through seven … Read more
Following last night’s love fest, Tara Ward walks back down a very long aisle of dramatic Shortland Street nuptials. Romance flowed like a punctured box of cask wine on last night’s episode of Shortland Street, spilling its emotional load over Ferndale in a sparkly celebration of all things love and motorbikey. With the groom’s eternal … Read more
Tara Ward heads to the big apple with Our Rachel and a butt-tightening machine in Rachel Hunter’s Tour of Beauty. Welcome to New York, the city that never sleeps, the city filled with bright lights and naked cowboys. It’s here that Rachel Hunter kicked off her second series of Tour of Beauty, a place filled … Read more
With Jane Yee galavanting away across the ditch, Tara Ward steps up to power rank the only four night a week NZ renovation show that matters. It was Guest Bedroom and Bathroom Week on the relentless renovation extravaganza that we love to call The Block. The pressure was on like a power hose pointed at a … Read more
Still feeling the chill? Tara Ward assembles some of the best fashions on Lightbox to warm the cockles of your cold heart. It’s International Fashion Day, everyone! If you’re sitting on your couch in your favourite pyjamas with the elastic waistband and the ripped crotch, eating stale pretzels and wondering how you can give such … Read more
Tara Ward watches Wasted, a buzzy British comedy starring spirit guide Sean Bean as every famous Sean Bean character ever. Imagine discovering your subconscious mind can manifest itself into the form it trusts the most. It’s an alarming thought, mostly because mine would reveal itself as an electrifying mix of Suzy Cato and Astar from … Read more
Got a thirst for chilling mysteries in even colder places? Tara Ward rounds up the best in Nordic Noir on Lightbox. To celebrate the arrival of mystery-thriller Jordskott to Lightbox, we’ve gathered together an extensive list of the best Scandi-noir dramas around. Stop drawing sad faces into your window condensation, because what better way to … Read more
Tara Ward watches Prime TV’s Back Benches amidst an exciting week for both politics and local colouring book production. Watching Back Benches was the most educational 45 minutes of television since the time I devoured the infomercial about the ladder that transforms into 370 different positions. Back Benches gave me answers to questions I didn’t know I was asking, like what does free range chicken … Read more
*With Jane Yee away this week, Tara Ward steps in to talk vibes, chill, and more vibes on week five of The Block NZ. Kitchen and Dining Week on The Block NZ was all about ‘the vibe’. Dennis Denuto would be stoked, because there were vibes everywhere: good ones, bad ones, giant neon purple hand ones. … Read more
Your aunty’s favourite show, Outlander, is returning exclusively to Lightbox September 11. Tara Ward watched the brand new trailer and had some thoughts. I was as happy as a tiny donkey trotting through the Scottish countryside when the official Outlander Season 3 trailer landed last week. It was Outlander D-Day, the beginning of the end: only … Read more
Tara Ward washes up on the shores of Love Island, the British reality sensation that has been compared to the works of Chaucer and Shakespeare. I am late to the Love Island party. I am Jessica, sauntering in with my pleather swimming togs, ready to board the love train after every other bastard has already coupled … Read more
She missed it the first time around, so Tara Ward decided to watch the first season of Filthy Rich in one marathon binge. Filthy Rich hits our screens again this week like a stripper with a heart of gold dropped from a great height by her evil business associate. New Zealand’s glitziest show is back … Read more
Tara Ward watches the time travel literary hybrid Lost in Austen and drums up some more classic TV tales that could do with a bit of tinkering. It’s not every day one of the much-loved characters from English literature turns up in your bathroom. All I have in my bathroom are five scratchy towels and some dead … Read more
With Harlots arriving exclusively to Lightbox today, Tara Ward delves into the teaser trailer for the women-led period drama. Harlots has me more excited about a television programme than the time I found out they were bringing back Anne of Green Gables. While my Anne anticipation ended badly with a red-haired orphan running across a WW1 … Read more
After noticing that something strange has happened to Lily from Big Save Furniture, Tara Ward delves into her rich, loud, bargain-filled history. Breaking news, New Zealand: something terrible has happened to Big Save Lily. You’ll need to sit down on your corner lounge suite for this one, because Lily’s legendary Big Save Furniture ads are … Read more