HG DIVES INTO COAST’S SECRET PAST
ONE of Australia’s most popular comedians and actors wants to uncover the Gold Coast’s secret history.
Greig Pickhaver, best known for his loud and outrageous alter ego H.G. Nelson, will put the Glitter Strip under the microscope for an episode of his SBS television series Secrets of Our Cities.
The Gold Coast will feature in one part of the three-episode series, with this season focusing on the waves of migration that have come to define cities.
The documentary will be filmed here next month as Pickhaver learns more about the Gold Coast and meets members of the community who have stories to tell about migrants past and present who have had an impact.
Pickhaver told the Gold Coast Bulletin he was looking forward to delving into the city’s history.
“Real estate was a big driver here and the Gold Coast has all the elements which show migration as people came here not just for holidays, which was a big part of the history, but also to start restaurants and other businesses,” he said.
“It is a broad canvas but it is about people who come in and out of each area, their rises and falls, but it is more complicated than that.
“People saw this place, the Gold Coast, as somewhere it was possible to build something, where they could invent their own lives and own architecture.”
The Gold Coast episode will air in 2019.
It is expected to look at both the movement and migration of the indigenous people as well as more recent arrivals who have had a significant impact, including the property developers who built much of the city – such as the late Eddie Kornhauser
Pickhaver urged locals who had interesting stories about migration and the city to get in touch. “I like to think people will watch this and speculate more about the pattern of ordinary people’s lives and the unusual drama in them,” he said.