Tara Ward brings you this week’s Shortland Street Power Rankings, highlighted by Ferndale’s own Rawshark, Dayna finding love in a hardware store and a diagnostic demon in ED. 1. Damo is Dick of the Week™ Damo was batshit crazy this week and Shortland Street was all the better for it. Jealous of Chris’ superior wealth, … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: TK gets gruesome, Bella gives birth and a random man makes waves. 1) Bella gives birth to a fully formed human being As if childbirth wasn’t painful enough, Bella just found out that Lucy’s handmade soap features heavily in this week’s … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: Bella reaches peak pregnant, Dayna is a local legend and there’s a surprise visit from a 1940s gentleman. 1) Dayna surfs her way through a sea of fools and idiots Dayna rockets up the power rankings this week for her endurance and … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: TK goes to the dogs, Drew wears a terrible suit and Queen Holt graces the halls. 1) The Holt bolts her way to the top. There she is. Hayley Holt dances her way to the top of this week’s power … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: the soap industry sucks, storms roll in and Murray messes up again. 1) Characters we hardly know walk in the shadow of the valley of death They were dropping like flies at Shortland Street this week. First to be wheeled … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: Rachel gets a pat on the head and Lucy and Dayna’s friendship is on the rocks after some (literally) soapy drama. 1) Rachel puts the phwoar into FWIB Is there anything Rachel McKenna can’t do? She keeps a bunch of … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: Moody Michael has a sulk, Harry is robbed of his television and Drew bucks up his pun game. 1) Michael makes it hard to love him Oh, the pressures of being a tween in New Zealand. Someone call a … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: Nicole and Vinnie tie the knot, Leanne seeks refuge in a toilet and TK’s thumb gives Daniel Day-Lewis a run for his money. 1) Vinnie and Nicole drop anchor in a surprise sea of love Big things were happening in Nicole … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: Pixie gets a watery send-off, Drew gets passionate and everyone else gets sweaty. 1) Harry steps up to speak out Poor ol’ Harry is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Just like that time he fell in … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: Pania exits stage left, Harry spews a geyser and we mourn for poor Pixie. 1) RIP Pikitea When last Friday’s episode ended with the Hannah whanau enjoying a rare state of joy, it could only mean one thing: grief … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: Pania takes the crazy cake, Chris yells about butchery and TK mumbles his way through every conversation. 1) Pania takes it to the edge Pania’s mental state is unraveling faster than a pair of pants from the $2 Shop. She … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: Steve makes waves from his hospital bed, Drew has a ponytail penchant and Murray makes a casserole. This week’s power rankings are a sumptuous buffet filled with farewells and fights, revelations and rumours, sexism and Steve. Fill your plate, grab … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: Harper wreaks havoc, Clementine vanishes and Curtis gets naked. There was drama and action aplenty at our favourite hospital last week. Relationships teetered on the brink, lives were at risk, and anarchy arose in the car park. Come, let us … Read more
With Outlander‘s Jamie and Claire setting sail off our screens, Tara Ward cues up some more fantastic shows that will help you cope with the dreaded ‘Droughtlander’. Outlander has bid us ‘au revoir’ and sailed off into the French sunset, leaving us with a giant Jamie Fraser-sized hole in our Sunday nights. Outlander was a television … Read more
Tara Ward recaps the final episode of Outlander season one, wherein the coos save the day and Jamie and Claire look towards rebuilding and smouldering. At last glance, Jamie Fraser was trapped in the living hell that was Wentworth Prison – with Black Jack Randall using his tongue to sign his name across Jamie’s back. Thankfully, … Read more
With Outlander on hiatus this week before the finale, Tara Ward recaps her top ten favourite moments from the series so far from perverse back-licking to the angriest of chins. This series of Outlander has been a cracking adventure, filled with battles, blood, bigamy and bow-chicka-wow-wow – and we’ve still one episode to go! Before … Read more
Tara Ward recaps the gruelling episode 15 of Outlander, wherein Jamie is relegated to the horrific torture house know as Wentworth Prison. Word on the street was that this Outlander episode would be a harrowing and disturbing trip to Bleaksville. To ease the journey I prepared some fine comfort food – Southland Cheese Rolls, made from … Read more
Tara Ward recaps episode 13 of Outlander, including 18th century skinny jeans, creepy puppets and Colin Farrell’s grubby doppelganger. ‘The Search’ begins with a marionette show. Puppet Claire sits at Craigh Na Dun, chilling in her 1940s white frock, when there’s a sudden explosion of light and flames. That escalated quickly. Is this a metaphor for … Read more
Tara Ward recaps episode 13 of Outlander, including the arrival of the Black Watch to Lallybroch, a birth more momentous than the Royals, and Jamie’s incredible sense of smell. We last left Jamie and Claire firmly ensconced in the familial bosom of Lallybroch. But wait, what’s this? A pair of grubby bearded men in the kitchen, … Read more
Tara Ward recaps episode 12 of Outlander, in which the Fonz comes to Lallybroch, Jamie goes commando and Claire shares some wisdom about meeting the parents. Lallybroch, Lallybroch, oh Lally-lally-lally-lallybroch. For eleven episodes we’ve heard Jamie wax lyrical about Lallybroch. That Scottish Shangri-La, the hallowed Highland haven of Clan Fraser. Whatever could go wrong as … Read more
Tara Ward recaps episode 11 of Outlander, in which she introduces the show to her husband, Claire discovers the intricacies of the Scottish legal system, Geillis causes a scene and Jamie seeks The Future. If you missed last week’s recap, click here. We begin with a visit to that ever-popular Highland tourist attraction: the Thieves … Read more
Appointment Viewing is a regular column which features a Spinoff writer watching one or more episodes of a current show and attempting to decode its appeal. Here Tara Ward gets to know the political complexities of sixteenth century Tudor England in Wolf Hall. What’s it all about? Wolf Hall covers Thomas Cromwell’s rise to power in the … Read more
Tara Ward recaps episode 10 of Outlander, in which there are bad omens aplenty, Colum is surrounded by fools and idiots, and Claire knows best. // We begin with a bang, with world traveller Jamie going downtown to Chinatown. For the love of all things tartan, I may need to light a cigarette after that … Read more
Tara Ward celebrates the return of Outlander to Lightbox with a recap of episode nine: The Reckoning. // We open with Jamie on a riverbank, skimming stones and contemplating the meaning of life. Listen, Jamie: if you’re not skimming stones on still water, you’re wasting both your time and mine. Shouldn’t you be saving your … Read more
Put it On My TV is a new occasional feature which will explore an overseas show that deserves to be shown or made in the land of the long white cloud. This week Tara Ward campaigns for Gogglebox, a British reality show where normal armchair folk talk telly. // While enjoying a recent journey from these fair … Read more
Tara Ward explains how you can party like it’s 1919 this festive season, with help from the folks at Downton Abbey. // Ah, Christmas, the silly season. This time of year is filled with the joyous sounds of tills ringing, children screaming, and trolleys clashing over the last pint of Lewis Road Creamery Chocolate Milk. If … Read more
After twelve weeks, two melted pairs of pants and too many bespoke furnishings to count, Tara Ward shares her top ten lessons learned from watching The Block NZ 2014. // I’m amongst friends, so let me share with the group: I am a Blockaholic. This morning I thought I saw The Wolf coming out of the … Read more
Gather around, my friends: the time has come. It’s here! It’s really, really here! It’s our last week on The Block NZ. The teams returned their tools to the Bunnings Shed, packed their suitcases and said an emotional goodbye to their houses. Let us journey onwards and upwards, as we relive the glorious moments of the … Read more
Legend has it that the team who wins front garden week goes on to win The Block NZ. So there was no pressure this week as our teams planted, painted and pushed their way to front garden nirvana, all determined to create the best first impression for their buyers. Join me as we walk towards … Read more