The lockdown might be over, but the strange obsession with New Zealand’s director general of health is not. Tara Ward scoured the internet in search of Bloomfield-inspired works of art. Heroes save us when we’re in trouble, like when Chris Warner rescued everyone at Shortland Street when it was under siege, or the time Jason … Read more
Taika Waititi and his celebrity mates are teaming up to fight Covid-19 by bringing Roald Dahl’s beloved story to life, one Zoom call at a time. If you’ve ever dreamed about Zooming an all-star Hollywood cast who stare deep into your eyes as they read you a bedtime story, then your dreams just came true. … Read more
These are unprecedented times, and just when you think you’ve seen it all, Breakfast’s Matty McLean does the weather dressed as a dinosaur. TVNZ 1’s Breakfast kicked off level two with a bang yesterday morning. As we viewers at home began to gleefully escape our own personal lockdowns, Matty McLean locked himself into a plastic … Read more
Season five of Outlander closes harshly and brutally. Tara Ward recaps the finale. If you came to this Outlander recap looking for lighthearted hijinks about fluffy kittens and mouldy bread, then go back through the stones, do not pass go, and do not collect $200. There was little joy in this series finale, with our … Read more
Tired of watching human faces on your screen but still love a bit of action? Tara Ward has you sorted with nature docos to fill the heart and lift the soul. People are annoying, and that’s the truth. Look it up in the dictionary, write it in the sky, tattoo it across your heart. Have … Read more
It’s the penultimate episode of the season, so what better time to reveal what Jamie Fraser’s sperm looks like? Tara Ward recaps season five, episode 11 of Outlander. We’ve been surfing the Outlander wave for many moons now, but our beloved drama still knows how to surprise us like Jamie Fraser jumping out from behind … Read more
You Got This! pits bubble against bubble in family fun challenges with no risk of overlap. Tara Ward gives us a few of the challenges she’s done with her own family during lockdown. Gather all ye wooden spoons and empty boxes and prepare to enjoy You Got This!, a new show that sees Kiwi families … Read more
Everyone wants to kill Stephen Bonnet, but which one of the Frasers will actually get to do it? Tara Ward recaps season five, episode 10. Friends, I’m still recovering from Jamie Fraser dying and then being brought back to life by his wife’s magical boobs, so to have Outlander throw crisis after crisis at us … Read more
Need to scratch that Gone Girl itch from years past? The Secrets She Keeps is the new Australian thriller that asks how far you should go to get the perfect life. Pre-lockdown, influencers were king and there was no better way to feel stink about your own life than to step into theirs. This is … Read more
Bree finds her purpose, Claire finds a new way to save lives, and Roger finds some maggots. Tara Ward recaps season five, episode nine of Outlander. We have lived, loved and laughed our way through five seasons of our beloved Outlander, but after this week, we can finally claim to have seen it all. My … Read more
We all know we’re spending even more time than usual in front of the TV screen, but what free-to-air shows have New Zealanders turned to during these troubled times? With most New Zealanders stuck at home all day during the lockdown, it makes sense that we’ve turned to ye olde gogglebox in record numbers. The … Read more
Is Roger alive? Can Marsali predict the future? Will Fraser’s Ridge ever have enough candles? Tara Ward recaps season five, episode eight of Outlander. If you were planning on escaping through the stones to 1771 for some light relief from this mad old world of ours, think again. Turn back, you shall not pass. It … Read more
The low-down on the lockdown educational TV channels, which launch tomorrow. We’re still in lockdown, but term two begins this week. What’s the story with the new TV channels? This week sees the launch of two new television channels dedicated to broadcasting educational programmes for school students during the Covid-19 lockdown. The first is Home … Read more
Let’s meet the brave Australians who threw caution to the wind in search of $250,000 and a free trip around the planet. It’s been yonks since we last took a trip with The Amazing Race, so it’s ironic that the latest season hits our screens during a time when we can’t go anywhere. Who wants … Read more
Tara Ward talks to Spencer Stoner, the producer of Go Further South, the slow TV sensation that hits our screens this Easter. Let’s change Good Friday’s name to “Great Friday”, or maybe “Even Better Friday”, because Prime is giving us the television tonic every lockdown needs. Go Further South, the slow-TV sequel to 2019’s … Read more
As the new season of Kirstie and Phil’s Love It or List It drops, Tara Ward investigates how the gurus can help us with our own interpersonal property dilemmas. We’re approaching the second week of national lockdown, and it’s about now that many of us will begin to have the “love it or list it” … Read more
It’s been a tough week in both 2020 and 1771, but things just got a whole lot worse for Jamie and Claire. Contains very big, very sad spoilers for season five, episode seven of Outlander. We are locked in a bubble of our own distress, we are self-isolating in a heavy cloud of emotion, we … Read more
Don’t panic, Outlander is still going strong. Tara Ward recaps episode six of season five. Oh, my sweet little Outlander cherubs, just look at very state of us. We are living in a world that now makes an episode of our beloved Outlander seem relatable, a thing I never thought I’d see with mine own eyes. Suddenly, … Read more
Looking for something safe to watch on the telly? Tara Ward has some suggestions. Chucking on the old gogglebox is the perfect way to escape the bewildering shitstorm we currently call “the real world”, especially if you’ve built yourself a comfortable throne out of your many, many stockpiled rolls of toilet paper. That’s why we’ve … Read more
Jamie kills a man, Claire invents penicillin, and somebody adopts a cat. It’s a big week in Outlander, as Tara Ward recaps episode five of season five. We open with some important news, friends: the first verse of the Outlander theme song is the perfect length to wash your hands to. That’s science for you, so … Read more
As a new season of My Brilliant Friend lands on TVNZ OnDemand, we take a look at some of television’s most iconic and enduring friendships. Life is for living, so close the curtains, lock the doors, and wrap your optic nerves around My Brilliant Friend. It’s a treat for the eyes and a treat for … Read more
Jamie dances like nobody’s watching, Claire finds herself a new surname, and Roger’s going to sing until someone tells him to stop. Tara Ward recaps episode four, season five of Outlander. Read all of Tara Ward’s Outlander recaps here. I know what you’ve been thinking about this past week. It’s been on my mind too, … Read more
Nearly 30 years after its first episode, award-winning sitcom Mad About You is back. Tara Ward travels back in time to celebrate the show’s most ’90s moments. Mad About You is back on our screens, and it seems the only thing that’s changed since 1999 is the colour of the Buchmans’ kitchen cabinets. The series … Read more
Something smelt strange in Outlander this week, and for once, it wasn’t Claire’s mouldy bread. Tara Ward recaps episode three of season five of Outlander. Outlander would be nothing without goats. Without the goat in season one, Claire wouldn’t have been noticed by the Redcoat, taken to see Black Jack, and forced to marry Jamie. Without the … Read more
Fancy a quick trip to Europe without leaving the comfort of your own couch? Tara Ward rounds up the best European drama for your viewing pleasure. Anyone who reckons travel is the only way to expand your mind has never had the pleasure of lying on a couch for three days while hoovering up several … Read more
Jamie’s away with the lads, Claire’s elbow deep in a dead man’s abdomen, and Roger wants to go back to the future. Tara Ward recaps episode two of season five of Outlander. Well, my thirstly little Outlander cherubs, that was something else, wasn’t it? It’s been many a moon since I watched an episode of our … Read more
After 43 years on the telly, Fair Go knows exactly how to stick up for Kiwi consumers. Tara Ward talks to Sophie Baird, the woman changing New Zealand, one consumer complaint at a time. For over four decades, Fair Go has been our saviour. They’ve defended us when we’ve been ripped off, chewed up and … Read more
Friends, it’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, and season five of our beloved Outlander is finally here. Droughtlander is done for another year, and while we might be shrivelled husks of our former selves, the first episode of our favourite time-travelling drama quenched our thirst with a ginger tsunami of feelings. We are restored. We … Read more
After 20 years on the telly, Jamie Oliver is back with a new show that celebrates the humble vegetable. Tara Ward looks back on the celebrity chef’s achievements. If anyone has the power to make us see carrots in a new light, it’s Jamie Oliver. Since he burst onto our screens over 20 years … Read more