A crash-hot show
Calum Henderson finds artistry in the hard-hat action of a new docuseries
Do you ever walk past a construction site where they’re knocking down some old building and think, “Man, I wonder what’s going on behind this ugly temporary wall?” Me neither, to be honest, until I watched Demolition NZ. Now it’s all I’ll ever be able to think about.
Like many of the best New Zealand shows of the 21st century — Border Patrol, Motorway
Patrol, Dog Squad — Prime’s new series follows Kiwis as they go about their everyday jobs. The main point of difference is that the people on this show are all wearing hard hats and every scene transition is soundtracked by early-90s heavy metal guitar.
In Christchurch they’re doing a “soft strip” on a block of buildings on High St, “removing gib, separating steel walls, getting it back to bare brick”, the nearest available hard hat explains. Gib, walls, brick — I am familiar with all these words from watching hours and hours of shows like The Block. Demolition NZ is The Block in reverse, and it turns out it’s so much more satisfying this way.
In Auckland they’re knocking down a karaoke bar on Commerce St to make way for what will be the country’s second-tallest building. This is where we meet the show’s true star, Dalton Ward, son of Ward Demolition owner Peter Ward and provider of many unique insights into the family business.
“[Dad’s] not happy unless he’s picking something up,” he explains, “so you leave a little bit of shit for him to pick up, it keeps him occupied.”
Dalton is a natural in front of the camera, but he really shines in the cab of a digger. I’ve never seen more graceful digger work than the way he cleanly brings down a crumbling bit of old wall in one assured movement. It’s a pleasure to watch such artistry in the face of such high stakes — there’s a latemodel Merc in the parking building not 2m away and it barely gets a speck of dust on it.
This old karaoke building is shocking, nowhere near up to code. The wall on the other side poses bigger problems, forcing Dalton into diplomatic mode with a vegan restaurateur and the Barfoots branch next door, who seem justifiably concerned that their office might collapse. “You’ve got to take every concern seriously otherwise it just gets worse,” offers Dalton sagely, “[then] council will get involved and next thing you know you’ve got a hell of a bloody problem on your hands.”
The mystery of what lies behind the problematic wall is so good it completely overshadows the episode’s third act, which involves explosives and a digger chained to another digger, basically abseiling down a steep, rocky hill face. Probably no other local show has ever packed this much intrigue, action and danger (did I mention the Christchurch site has asbestos?) into a broadcast half-hour. If you are the owner of a building, I’d urge you to seriously consider having it demolished just so they can keep on making Demolition NZ forever.