Back Benches
| Back Benches | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Presented by |
|
| Country of origin | TVNZ |
| Original release | |
| Network | TVNZ 7 |
| Release | 2 April 2008 |
Back Benches was a New Zealand political interview show, presented by
.The show was cancelled on TVNZ 7 in July 2012 when the station was shut down, being replaced with
TV ONE +1, a timeshift of TV ONE. The final three episodes were filmed at the Shepherd's Arms Hotel after an after-hours kitchen fire at the Backbencher pub rendered it unusable.[1]
In August 2012,
Prime TV expressed interest in reviving the series[2]
with a similar format. On 13 September 2012, it was confirmed that Prime would be bringing the show back in February 2013 by one of the show's hosts, Wallace Chapman. On 27 March 2013, the start date for the new series was confirmed as 10 April 2013 by Wallace Chapman and Damian Christie.
On 28 September 2017, it was announced by the producer Caroline Brunner on Twitter that Back Benches had aired its final show. The public agency that funds media,
New Zealand On Air, did not renew funding for Back Benches.[3]
Format
Each episode a panel of about three to five people are present on the show. The panel members are usually sitting
United Future and New Zealand First
, parties).
There is also a summary of political news during the preceding week (from both New Zealand and internationally), a small (10 person) poll of a current issue or controversy, and a 'Who am I?' game where customers present at the pub can guess which sitting MP clues read out are about.
See also
- Politics of New Zealand
- Parliament of New Zealand
External links
- Official website (No longer active)
References
- ^ Hunt, Tom (9 June 2012). "Puppets to rise from the ashes". Fairfax Media New Zealand. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
- ^ "Prime in line to pickup Back Benches", The Dominion Post, 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ^ "Back Benches, the show where politicians debate in a rowdy pub, is dead". Stuff. Retrieved 6 January 2020.