History of radio drama in New Zealand

On this page: The 1920s | The 1930s | The 1940s and 1950s | The 1960s | The 1970s | The 1980s

The 1920s

1924: The first commissioned radio drama was recorded in England in 1924. It was called A Comedy of Danger by Richard Hughes and was set in a coal mine. This play was re-created by Radio New Zealand in 1996 using production techniques of the 1920s.

1928: The first full-length play read on New Zealand radio. It was a comedy called Jane and was broadcast in May 1928. This play was not adapted for radio, but was a stage play that was read into microphones.

The 1930s

Actors and producers of radio drama came from the amateur theatre community. Plays were produced for radio at the rate of about one per month.

1931: The first radio serials were broadcast in New Zealand. Serials were plays that were broken up into 15 minute episodes. An example was called The Japanese Houseboy. The episodes were played weekly to listeners. Most serials came initially from the US and sometimes the material was considered unsuitable for New Zealand listeners as it was 'too American'.

1936: A serial began playing on New Zealand radio called One Man's Family. It was an American script that was adapted for New Zealand listeners. It provided regular work for actors and directors.

Another popular serial began in the 1930s called Dr Paul: A Story of Human Conflict. It was written in Australia and it was a romantic drama that was played on weekdays in the mornings. The target listeners were housewives, and the drama was slow paced so that housewives could do housework and listen at the same time, or even miss an episode and catch up the next day. Each episode ended in a cliff hanger that was designed to make the listener want to tune in again the next day. The modern day equivalents are the TV series Shortland Street, Days of Our Lives, and Home and Away. Dr Paul: A Story of Human Conflict ran from the 1930s until the 1970s for a total of 4634 episodes.

1938: Facilities for recording radio drama opened in Wellington at Broadcasting House.

1940s and 1950s

World War Two helped to promote the New Zealand production of radio plays as material was harder to come by from the US and UK. Most scripts were written and set overseas and actors needed to use appropriate British or American accents. There were some New Zealand writers employed full time to develop scripts for radio, such as W. Graham Holder who wrote serials and single plays. Recordings were made on 16 inch acetate disks which held 15 minutes of recorded material.

During the 1940s and 1950s regular weekly slots were made available for radio drama which created fulltime work for writers, actors, producers, and directors. These people were able to earn a regular income from radio drama. During these years not only the quantity of radio drama produced increased, but the quality improved as well.

There was some public debate, including a radio broadcast debate in 1948, about how radio drama might influence children, much as there is debate today about how television influences children.

1947: Radio production facilities were expanded when a studio for recording drama opened in Auckland.

1953: Production centres for radio drama opened in Christchurch and Dunedin.

1959: The first episode of a popular BBC radio serial The Archers, set in a farming community in England, was broadcast. The serial ran in New Zealand until 1982 for a total of 6075 episodes (it is still being broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the UK).

1960s

The 1960s are seen by some as the 'Golden Age' of radio drama in New Zealand. There were production centres in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin and there was an informal repertory company of radio actors. Regular work was available for writers. Many scripts still came from the UK so actors still used the appropriate British accent, rather than a New Zealand one.

1970s

This decade saw the development of New Zealand scripts, which enabled actors to use their own voices in drama that was set here. The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) was well set up to foster local talent. Courses were run for local writers who wanted to develop scripts for radio and at one time there were four script editors employed to develop locally written material. Actors were still responsible for making sound effects for live and recorded plays.

1980s

The 1980s saw the beginning of a decline in the production of radio drama. Television production was becoming an increasing priority for NZBC. The cost of producing radio drama, which required the payment of studio recording time, actors, scriptwriters, and directors as compared to other forms of radio contributed to its decline. In 1989 there were only 11 people employed in the Radio New Zealand drama department, responsible for producing around 20–30 plays per year.