New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers

New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers
Format	Documentary
Narrated by	Alison Mau
Country of origin	New Zealand
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	7
Broadcast
Original channel	Prime
Original run	6 October 2005 – 17 November 2005

New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers was a weekly television programme first shown on Prime Television New Zealand on 6 October 2005. 430 notable New Zealanders were ranked by a panel to determine the 100 most influential in New Zealand history. There were six episodes to present the list, and a final (seventh) episode, screened live on 17 November 2005, showed the rankings of the top ten of these people as a result of votes collected from the public via text and internet.^[1] (These votes are not statistically valid as they involve self-selected voters).

Diana Wichtel, reviewing the show in The New Zealand Listener, described it as "surprisingly watchable", but commented that the format was "history as striptease, with the programme counting down over the weeks to the big winner."^[2] Scott Kara, writing in The New Zealand Herald, called it "educational but not dull".^[3] Another review described it as "history ... as an Idol-style talent search".^[4]

Joseph Ramanos, one of the panellists, produced a book later in 2005 containing profiles of the same 100 people. The book was revised for a 2008 edition.^[5]

The panel

The show's rankings were produced by merging the ratings of eight panellists, who are all well-known New Zealanders:

• Stacey Daniels – Television and radio personality
• Raybon Kan – Comedian
• Robyn Langwell – Editor of North & South magazine
• Douglas Lloyd-Jenkins – Writer and historian
• Melanie Nolan – Historian
• Joseph Romanos – radio host, sports writer
• Tainui Stephens – Television producer
• Kerre Woodham – Radio personality

Panel rankings

1. Ernest Rutherford – physicist
2. Kate Sheppard – Suffragette
3. Sir Edmund Hillary – mountaineer and explorer
4. Sir George Grey – Governor and Premier
5. Michael Joseph Savage – politician
6. Sir Apirana Ngata – Māori politician
7. Hone Heke – Māori chief
8. Dr Frederick Truby King – founder of Plunket Society
9. William Hobson – co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi
10. Jean Batten – aviatrix
11. Sir Brian Barratt-Boyes – heart surgeon
12. Sir Peter Snell – runner
13. William Pickering – space scientist
14. Sir Peter Jackson – film maker
15. Janet Frame – writer
16. Te Rauparaha – Māori leader
17. Sir Colin Meads – All Black
18. Dame Whina Cooper – Māori leader
19. Katherine Mansfield – writer
20. Thomas Brydone and William Soltau Davidson – refrigeration pioneers
21. Richard Pearse – aviation pioneer
22. Te Whiti o Rongomai – Pacifist Māori leader
23. Richard Seddon – Longest-serving Premier and Prime Minister of New Zealand
24. Sir Te Rangi Hīroa (Peter Buck) – Māori leader
25. Sir Julius Vogel – politician
26. Maurice Wilkins – scientist Nobel laureate
27. Helen Clark – politician
28. Mabel Howard – politician
29. Sir Bernard Freyberg – lieutenant-general
30. Sir Harold Gillies – plastic surgeon
31. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa – Opera singer
32. Sir Keith Park – air chief marshall
33. Professor Alan MacDiarmid – Nobel laureate chemist
34. Sir Peter Blake – yachtsman
35. Dr C.E. (Clarence Edward) Beeby – educationalist
36. Jack Lovelock – athlete
37. Dr John Bedbrook – biotechnologist
38. James K. Baxter – poet
39. Dr Fred Hollows – eye surgeon
40. Sir Murray Halberg – athlete and philanthropist
41. Neil Finn – musician
42. Edward Gibbon Wakefield – colony founder
43. David Lange – politician
44. Sir Robert Muldoon – politician
45. Thomas J Edmonds – industrialist
46. Colin McCahon – painter
47. Colin Murdoch – inventor
48. Sir Archibald McIndoe – plastic surgeon
49. Rev Samuel Marsden – missionary
50. Peter Fraser – politician
51. John Clarke – comedian
52. Ettie Rout – campaigner for safe sex
53. Arthur Lydiard – popularised jogging
54. Kupe – discoverer of Aotearoa
55. Te Puea Herangi – Māori leader
56. Sir John Walker – runner
57. Tim Finn – musician
58. John A. Lee – politician
59. Sir James Wattie – industrialist
60. Sir Bill Hamilton – inventor
61. Norman Kirk – politician
62. Bill Gallagher – inventor
63. Dr Michael King – Historian
64. Frances Hodgkins – Painter
65. George Nepia – All Black
66. Sir James Fletcher – Industrialist
67. Mother Aubert – Nun
68. Charles Heaphy – Explorer
69. A.H. Reed – Publisher
70. Frank Sargeson – Writer
71. Sir Roger Douglas – Politician
72. Dr Matthew During – Scientist
73. Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki – Warrior
74. Hongi Hika – Warrior chief
75. Sir David Low – Cartoonist
76. Kate Edger – Women's pioneer
77. Dame Marie Clay – Educationalist
78. Rewi Alley – Sinophile
79. Thomas Rangiwahia Ellison – Rugby union captain
80. Rua Kenana Hepetipa – Prophet
81. Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana – Prophet
82. Aunt Daisy – Broadcaster
83. Charles Upham – Soldier
84. Ralph Hotere- Artist
85. Sir Richard Hadlee – Cricketer
86. Billy T James – Comedian
87. Sir Keith Sinclair – Historian
88. Charles Goldie – Painter
89. John Minto – Activist
90. Rudall Hayward – Film maker
91. Witi Ihimaera – Writer
92. John Te Rangianiwaniwa Rangihau – Māori language promoter
93. Dave Dobbyn – Songwriter
94. Russell Coutts – Sailor
95. Jonah Lomu – All Black
96. Peter Mahon – Lawyer
97. Georgina Beyer – Transgender politician
98. A J Hackett – Bungy jumping pioneer
99. Denny Hulme – Formula One driver
100. Russell Crowe – Actor

On the final programme, the 101st on the list was revealed:

101. Sir Mountford "Toss" Woollaston – Painter

Public rankings

Ernest Rutherford

1. Ernest Rutherford – scientist
2. Kate Sheppard – suffragette
3. Edmund Hillary – explorer and humanitarian
4. Charles Upham – war hero
5. Billy T James – comedian
6. David Lange – prime minister
7. Apirana Ngata – politician
8. Colin Murdoch – inventor of the disposable syringe
9. Rua Kenana Hepetipa – prophet
10. Roger Douglas – politician and economist

References

1. ^ New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. "History on TV – Timeline". nzhistory.net.nz. http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/tv-history/history. Retrieved 5 October 2011. 
2. ^ Wichtel, Diana (29 October 2005). "Yore call". The New Zealand Listener. http://www.listener.co.nz/entertainment/yore-call/. Retrieved 5 October 2011. "history as striptease, with the programme counting down over the weeks to the big winner." 
3. ^ Kara, Scott (14 November 2005). "Entertainment picks: Arise Sir Ed and conquer list". The New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/movies/news/article.cfm?c_id=200&objectid=10355005. Retrieved 5 October 2011. 
4. ^ Frances Grant, Scott Kara, Rebecca Barry Hill and Michele Hewitson (22 December 2005). "Television 2005: an unauthorised history". The New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10360984. Retrieved 5 October 2011. 
5. ^ "TrioBooks Ltd-Publishers". triobooks.co.nz. ISBN 0958245568. http://www.triobooks.co.nz/History.htm. Retrieved 5 October 2011. 

External links

• Programme web site from web.archive.org