Francesca Rudkin: We have seen enough of Polkinghorne

Just how much Polkinghorne is enough Polkinghorne?

Today it was announced that South Pacific Pictures, together with UK based production companies, are developing an original limited drama series "The Mysterious Death of Pauline Hanna".

I wonder what Pauline would say if she could see the outcome of her death. 

Firstly, her life was laid bare, her personal life forensically picked apart, discussed and judged in an eight-week court trial. A court case that was thoroughly covered by the media. 

Since then, it was announced there would be a three-part documentary series, funded by New Zealand On Air to screen at some point on ThreeNow, then we had the Tui billboards, and now we have the dramatization. 

That's a lot of people making money off the tragic story of the death of a woman. 

I totally understand why this is happening and get the appeal... you only have to look at how much this case captivated the nation. It's a universally appealing story filled with intriguing characters, scandals, sex, and drugs - let's be honest, you couldn't have come up with this story if you tried. 

But there needs to be more to it than capitalising on a scandalous story. 

As I aid after the documentary was made public, there is a fine line between examining the facts and revealing something meaningful, and preying on a victim's tragedy for entertainment's sake.

The line in the press release that caught my attention was this: "By presenting the facts of the case in a responsible, forensic, and non-judgmental way, The Mysterious Death of Pauline Hanna will let the audience decide."

Is that not what a court case is for? Okay - quite a bit of judgement was passed in that court case. But if you followed the court case, and remember Mr Polkinghorne was found not guilty, you have already probably made up your own mind on what happened. 

Do we need dramatization? Haven't we had enough?

There is a place for true crime documentaries, podcasts, and dramatizations - they can be a powerful way to tell cautionary tales, and question our justice system and treatment of victims. 

Just look at the Grace Millane documentary streaming on Netflix - The Lie: The Murder of Grace Millane. 

This is a documentary that adds context to the story, reveals new information and footage, was delivered at a respectful time after Grace's death and most importantly, respected the victim and her family. 

At a time when the local production industry is hurting, it's good to hear about new productions with international funding. 

But if South Pacific Pictures goes ahead with this ratings winner, there is still an ethical obligation to do it with care and consideration for the victim, their family and friends. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Suggest how much Polkinghorn is enough polking Horn. Today it
was announced that South Pacific Pictures, together with UK based
production companies, are developing an original limited drama series. It's
called The Mysterious Death of Pauline Hannah. I wonder what
Pauline would say if she could see the outcome of
her death. Firstly, her life was laid bare, her personal

(00:22):
life forensically picked apart, discussed and judged in an eight
week court trial, a court case that was thoroughly covered
by the media. Since then, it was announced that there
would be a three part documentary series funded by New
Zealand on air to screen at some point on three
Now then we had the twoey Billboards and now we
have the dramatization. It's a lot of people making money

(00:45):
off the tragic story of the death of one woman.
I totally understand why this is happening. Going to get
the appeal, you only have to look at how much
this case captivated the nation. It's a universally appealing story
for with intriguing characters and scandals and sex and drugs.
And let's be honest, you couldn't have come up with

(01:05):
this story if you tried. But there needs to be
more to it than capitalizing on a scandalous story. As
I said after the documentary was made public, there is
a fine line between examining the facts and revealing something
meaningful and preying on a victim's tragedy for entertainment's sake.
The line in the press release that caught my attention

(01:27):
was this, by presenting the facts of the case in
a responsible, forensic and non judgmental way, the mysterious death
of Pauline Hannah will let the audience decide. Is that
not what the court case was for? Okay, quite a
bit of judgment was passed in that court case. But
if you followed the court case, and you must remember
mister Pokinhorn was found not guilty, you've already probably made

(01:49):
up your own mind about what happened. Do we need
a dramatization? Haven't we had enough? There is a place
for true crime documentaries, podcasts, andatizations. They can be a
powerful way to tell cautionary tales and question our justice
system and the treatment of victims. Just look at the
Grace Meline documentary currently screening on Netflix. It's called The

(02:10):
Lie the Murder of Grace Melane. I suggest you watch it,
It's very good. This is a documentary that adds context
to the story. It reveals new information and footage was
delivered a respectful time after Grace's death and most importantly,
respected the victim and their family. Look at a time
when local production industry is hurting, it is good to
hear about new productions with international funding. But if some

(02:32):
specific pictures goes ahead with this ratings winner, there is
still an ethical obligation to do it with care and
consideration for the victim, their families and friends. For more
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