A look at what lies beneath
Here’s something you might already know: probably the largest and bloodiest battle in New Zealand’s history happened in 1806 or 1807, beside Lake
Nga¯ roto, near Te Awamutu, in Waikato.
More than 16,000 warriors took part and several thousand were killed. So many chiefs – wearing feathers to mark their rank – died, that the battle is known today as the Battle of Hingaka¯ ka¯ – the Fallen Parrots.
What amazes me is that I studied history at Te Awamutu College, but noone ever mentioned the Battle of
Hingaka¯ ka¯ . We were all too busy on the Russian Revolution and the Weimar Republic to learn there was a major historical site only a few kilometres from our classroom.
This is, to me, a clear example of how the British who colonised this country love to ignore and suppress any account of history that doesn’t involve them, while they are simply obsessed with their own much-invaded past back home in Pomgolia. And, occasionally, making a brilliant TV show about that history, and the people who try to unearth it.
If you haven’t found Detectorists on Netflix or Acorn TV yet, then you are missing out on one of the best sitcoms of all time. The show sits squarely in a tradition of UK excellence at character comedy.
If you were ever a fan of anything from The Young Ones to Black Books or even One Foot in the Grave, then this heroically gentle poke at the lives of the members of the Danebury Metal Detecting Club is about to become your new favourite show.
Both streaming services only have two of the three seasons. And, for some reason, Netflix is calling a standalone Christmas Special ‘‘episode seven’’ of season two, when it is no such thing.
To see season three of Mackenzie Crook’s award-winning gem in New Zealand, you’ll have to buy it online or ask for the DVD at your local video shop, if you are lucky enough to still have one.
And, after Detectorists, the exploits of Time Team, on its own YouTube channel (Time Team Classics) are oddly familiar and comforting. Tony Robinson (Blackadder’s Baldrick) hosts a team of enthusiastic professional archaeologists, as they race the clock to uncover the secrets of an unexplored site every week.
For anyone who ever became one with a sofa as an episode of Antique’s Roadshow unfolded, Time Team is like that, but with shovels, mud and GPS.
Maybe, one day, someone might even make a local version. There’s a lake just outside of Te Awamutu that could be a great place to start.