Back to Timor
Back to Timor follows the journey of four Kiwi military veterans who return to East Timor 25 years after serving as peacekeepers there. The big question for them: did they make a difference?
43m
Stolen Lands
21m
New Season | A Highlander’s journey to Aotearoa meets Māori resistance, colonial law, and the lasting legacy of land and loss.
S1 - Made with the support of Te Māngai Pāho / S2 - Made with the support of NZ On Air
Series details.
Credits
Claire Varley
Creator, Executive Producer, Writer, & Director (S2)
Lilly Panapa
S1 - Line Producer
Kristina Bowden
S2 - Line Producer
Jake Mokomoko
Director
Emma Power
S2 - Writer
Jake Mokomoko & Summer Mokomoko
S1 - Narration
Liam Whyte
S2 - Narration
Megan Whelan
RNZ Chief Content Officer
Veronica Schmidt
S1 - RNZ Head of Content (Acting)
Tim Burnell
RNZ Commissioning Manager
Jodhi Hoani
S1 - RNZ Commissioner
Jana Te Nahu Owen
S2 - RNZ Commissioner, Māori
Nicholas Meuli
S2 - RNZ Commissioning Coordinator
Shannon Haunui-Thompson
S2 - RNZ Tumu Māori
Josie Campbell
S2 - RNZ Publicity Manager
Poppy Granger
S2 - RNZ Publicity Coordinator
Robert Whitaker
S2 - RNZ Design Lead
Jayne Joyce
S2 - RNZ Senior Designer
Ngā mihi:
- Jane Patterson
- John Hartevelt
- Infofind
Season 2:
Stolen Lands returns with the remarkable story of Hector MacDonald, a young whaler from Scotland, whose life in Aotearoa becomes a powerful reflection of cultural adaptation, alliance, and loss.
Far from the storm-lashed Hebrides, Hector enters a land undergoing profound change in the late 1820s. Māori iwi are navigating the chaos of musket warfare and large-scale migrations. Into this volatile place, Hector lands on Kapiti Island and soon finds himself in the orbit of Te Rauparaha, the dominant Ngāti Toa chief. Through a strategic marriage to Te Koopi, Te Rauparaha's niece, Hector is drawn deep into the Māori world. The union is not only personal -- it's political, sealing alliances and granting Hector access to land, business networks, and cultural belonging.
This season traces Hector's transformation from whaler to trader, settler, and family man. His story is one of cultural entanglement, where shared values -- whakapapa, trade, community -- form the foundation for unlikely partnerships. He learns te reo, raises a son within a Māori whānau, and builds a life that balances his Highland roots with the tikanga of his adopted home. Later, Hector continues this legacy with his second life, Agnes Carmont. A midwife and healer, Agnes is embraced by Māori communities she serves, becoming a key figure in the whānau's bicultural journey.
However, as Crown forces advance and colonial policy tightens, the world Hector helped build begins to unravel. The signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840 and the rise of the Native Land Court in the 1860s change everything. Collective land ownership is dismantled. Māori autonomy is challenged by settler law. Once grounded in mutual respect, Hector's leases become legal grey zones. Even his cousin, Donald McLean, emerges as a powerful Crown agent responsible for sweeping land acquisitions across the North Island.
This series explores not just what Hector gained but what was lost. The death of Te Koopi, the decline of whaling, and the shifting political landscape leave Hector straddling two worlds as they move further apart. Meanwhile, Māori face increasing alienation from their own land and power structures.
Narrated by descendants, historians, and cultural experts, Stolen Lands 2: A Highlander's Quest unpacks the personal and political in equal measure. It reveals how individual lives are caught up in larger forces -- colonial ambition, cultural resilience, and the long arc of displacement.
Visually rich and deeply researched, the series brings to life the textures of 19th-century Aotearoa: from bustling whaling stations to the tensions of the Native Land Court. It's a story of survival, connection, and consequences, where the bonds between people and whenua are tested again and again. This season uncovers a chapter of New Zealand history through one man's journey -- finding home and watching it change under colonial rule.
Season 1:
This thrilling five-episode series uncovers the conspiracy against the 19th-century Māori chief Te Whakatōhea Chief Mokomoko, who was wrongfully executed for murdering German missionary Carl Völkner.
In keeping with the Settlements Act of 1863, the Crown also confiscated hundreds of thousands of acres of Mokomoko's tribal land.
In Stolen Lands, the story of Mokomoko's unjust (and now overturned) conviction for the murder of Carl Völkner is narrated by his direct descendants, Jake Mokomoko and Summer Mokomoko, in te reo Māori. Academics and Māori land experts fill in the facts, highlighting how and why this land was stolen.
In 1992, Chief Mokomoko was pardoned for Völkner's murder but did not receive full recognition of his innocence.
137 years after his body was buried in Auckland's Mt Eden prison, Mokomoko's remains were exhumed and returned to his ancestral land.
In 2013, to restore mana to their ancestor, the Mokomoko whānau led the creation of the Mokomoko (Restoration of Character, Mana, and Reputation) Bill.
In 2023, a decade on, there has still been no official compensation awarded to Chief Mokomoko's descendants for the loss of his life or their land.
Get in touch
Email us at: commissioning@rnz.co.nz
