Tonight on Sunday ` Stuart Murray Wilson, the Beast of Blenheim, and the woman who stopped him in his tracks. I still maintain my not-guilty status. Staunch, sinister and up for release. Absolute psychopath. The country's worst sex offender. < So 42 women and children? < So 42 women and children? Yes. I'd say there's a 100% chance he will reoffend. Meet the woman who brought the Beast to his knees. Oh, I just wanted to kill him. How do you find find Australia's food, generally? How do you find find Australia's food, generally? Crap. Disillusioned and disappointed. Oh, I remember. Whinging Poms. They're fleeing Australia. I won't miss the driving. The ping-pong Poms. Well, I don't do beach. I don't want sand down my crack. Poms going home. BAND PLAYS JAZZ MUSIC Big sound, big band. Big chance. That's the photo of Frank Sinatra, and there's Ella Fitzgerald. Rodger Fox mixing it with the big boys. MUSIC CRESCENDOS Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2012 Kia ora. I'm Miriama Kamo. So dangerous is Stuart Murray Wilson, he was held in prison for 18 years until the absolute last day he could be confined under law. In all those years, Wilson, better known as the Beast of Blenheim, never once admitted regret for his crimes and never undertook any rehabilitation program for sex offenders, even though he was diagnosed as having psychopathic and sexually deviant traits. The talk this week was of how to manage his imminent release. Put yourself in the shoes of the victims, scattered all around NZ. Tonight you'll hear from inside his own family, who, like the rest of us, struggle to comprehend his actions. As recently as last month, appearing in court by video link from prison, Stuart Murray Wilson was still in denial. Janet McIntyre reports. No, never. No, I did not. I wouldn't. No. I still maintain my non-guilty status. Thank you. I can't believe he's still of that frame of mind. I wouldn't know that. He's belligerent as what he was when we were dealing with him all those years ago. He hasn't changed. When former detective Colin MacKay uncovered Wilson's catalogue of crimes, it beggared belief. This incident just one of many. He had formed a relationship with a woman in Auckland, and he, uh, was, um, drugging this woman and then he raped the daughter, who, I think, was 14 at the time in front of the mother on the` on the lounge floor, in fact. Is he a psychopath? Is he a psychopath? Absolute psychopath. There's no question about that. No one, not even the police when they began to investigate, could believe the scale of offending. By the end of the first week, the victims went from two to, uh, I think, six or eight. At the conclusion of when we went to the lower-court hearing, we had 42, uh, victims. But we were aware of the existence of others at that point. So 42 women and children? So 42 women and children? Yes. Extraordinary. Extraordinary. Yes, yes. Stewart Murray Wilson ` not a big man, not a strong man. You wouldn't call him attractive, but somehow, he was able to manipulate women, often vulnerable women. Get their trust and abuse them for his own twisted ends. Some he trapped for days; some for months. For others, the abuse went on for years. And this is the only time that I've ever spoken about it. Perhaps no one suffered more than his former wife, Lorraine ` physically and psychologically abused by him for 19 years. You know, he took away my family, my feelings. He took away me being a woman. What sort of damage did he do to you physically? Broken feet. Nose. No teeth. Smashed my teeth. (SIGHS) And half the marks on my body are caused through him. And you stayed with him through all this? And you stayed with him through all this? I had no way of getting out... until... he got arrested. So were there no friends, no family you could go to? Well, there was, but I just couldn't get out cos he kept me drugged, he kept me tied up. He kept me locked up in the rooms. I told her to get away from him, but she told me she loved him. Darlene Dalton, a loyal friend from her school days to Lorraine's darkest days. She did need somebody standing up for her. Why didn't you go to the police? Why didn't you go to the police? All I'm putting it down to is... she was scared of the guy. You know, she felt intimidated. Darlene would eventually take matters into her own hands. But Lorraine was just one of many. While she was with Wilson, he approached and abused countless other women around the country and silenced them. I think they were` they lived in fear o-of him and the repercussions of what would happen and, uh, that seemed to be the theme with all of them. It was the fear` the fear that if they did anything that the outcome of what they did would be far worse, um, against them. Lorraine fell pregnant with a baby boy. I carried him for five months. Went into premature labour because of all the hidings and what-not from Murray. The baby died, 5 months old. There was another child ` a daughter. Uh, witnesses had told us about him having locked her in cars; having made her sleep in the dog kennel. Uh, having, um, made her do other things, uh, that were not considered normal. Wilson used his infant daughter as bait to pick up women hitchhikers. Many people talked about they felt quite relaxed because there was a smiling wee child with him. They spoke of the child being an initial reassurance that he` that he was safe to travel with. So they'd go back to his house, have a meal, and what we know, virtually from` from the first meal, um, he would actually put drugs in the food. So then in turn, um, he was able to, uh, render them physically incapable, and he would start offending against them. Rape them? Rape them? Rape them. Detective Inspector Tusha Penny, who leads a national team combating sexual abuse, was then a rookie constable called in from Wellington to follow the trail of Wilson's offending all around the South Island. I would talk to one woman and... and, of course, I'd say, 'Is there anyone else you might think of that I might like to talk to?' And they'd say, 'Well, actually, um, yeah, 'h-he did actually talk about, um, you know, this woman in Timaru, for example.' And so then we'd start trying to track her down. And so... And that's literally one victim led to another, because with most of the women he came into contact with, he would try and offend against. Why do you think he drugged people? It's obvious why he drugged people. He drugged them so that the issue of consent actually went away. You might wonder why these women hadn't come forward to the police. Well, in fact, some of them had, but back in the '80s, their stories to agencies seemed so unbelievable, they were never investigated. I think that it was just too much for the agencies involved, including the police, to actually believe what was being told to them. Complaints lay idle, shelved by welfare agencies and police until years later, when Colin MacKay in Blenheim reopened the files. I was quite frustrated of some of the other police districts because, you know, this sort of attitude, uh, I think, was` I wouldn't say it was prevalent, but it was certainly out there at that time. Coming up ` payback. The woman who stopped Wilson in his tracks. He asked me what the effing hell I wanted. And I just smashed him in the face. On the dome. And bashed but not broken. And I feel like a proper woman again. Lorraine's comeback. CAR ENGINE REVS CAR ENGINE REVS Oh. (SIGHS) OK. Try again. Like a swan... gliding along the lake. > CAR ENGINE REVS CAR HORN HONKS Left here now. Left here now. Left here now. Left here now. I am. I am! Why don't you drive then?! (SIGHS) (GROANS) (SIGHS) Right. In your right mirror. Left mirror. CRUNCHING, SQUEAKING Well, did you pass? Well, did you pass? Yep. Well, did you pass? Yep. That's my job done. Whoo-hoo! Don't bail out just yet. Your teen is more likely to crash on their restricted than any other time in their life. Go to safeteendriver.co.nz. Find out how you can stay involved. Just trying to keep you safe. Yeah, I know. We return to our story on the Beast of Blenheim now, Stewart Murray Wilson. Now we meet one woman, perhaps the only woman, who got the better of the Beast, and we're going to hear how she did it. A caution, though. The tale she tells is confronting. Stewart Murray Wilson, 65, has a rap sheet as despicable as it gets ` rape, assault, ill treatment of a child, forcing a woman into bestiality. There are at least 42 victims. I will never forgive him. I don't want to forgive him. Of all the women Stewart Murray Wilson encountered, it's safe to say he'll remember Darlene Dalton better than most. 5" nothing, a former bouncer, she pulls no punches. He's evil. He's outright evil. She'd always looked out for her friend Lorraine, and she found herself living below Lorraine and Wilson in a flat in Auckland. Night after night, Darlene heard violence, and one night, Lorraine appeared at her door. And she was bleeding, totally bleeding. You know, he'd... oh, he'd punched her around the face and... and when I looked out the door, all I could see is just blood coming down the steps. Like, it was... when she dragged herself down, the blood was coming with her clothing and things down to my... down to my flat. She came to my flat. Did she say why she was bleeding like that? Yes, she told me that Murray had shoved a softball bat inside her and jumped on this part of her tummy. On the lower part of her tummy. A softball bat? A softball bat? Yes. I tried to clean her up. But the blood just kept on coming. Darlene grabbed her own softball bat and unleashed her anger. I went up the stairs. I think I pounded on the door about three or four times before he opened the door and then I attacked him with the bat. How did you attack him? How did you attack him? Smashed his arm. Broke his arm. I got him on the dome. Hit his back, his arms, his legs. Oh, I just wanted to kill him. I really just wanted to kill him. And what did he do? Did he fight back? No, he just curled up in a ball. He was crying, screaming at me to stop, stop, and I think that's when my friends came up and, um, they actually stopped me from attacking him. Someone called an ambulance for Wilson, but Lorraine, downstairs, still bleeding, refused to go to hospital. She was scared because... going to a hospital beaten up like that, you've got to say what the hell's happened to you. Then the police are brought in. She didn't want to bring the police in. Then the police are brought in. She didn't want to bring the police in. Why not? Fear. Fear. Fear of what? > Fear. Fear of what? > Of Murray. Darlene admitted her assault on Wilson to police. She also admitted torching his car. No charges were laid. I knew it was criminal. I knew I could have gone to jail. But I wasn't going to lose a friend because of him. So, I tell you now, I'd do it again. I think that was, uh, a, sort of, a, uh, a retribution that everybody was quite happy about, uh, except perhaps him. (CLEARS THROAT) It didn't stop Wilson. He continued to offend right up to his arrest in 1994 and then he denied it all. He denied it in court ` all 22 charges. And, in jail, he refused treatment despite being diagnosed as having highly psychopathic and sexually deviant traits. And that is the red flag. It's a very dangerous cocktail. Once you have high levels of psychopathy and high levels of sexual deviance, your risk is escalated for committing a sexual offence. Professor Tony Ward, an expert in the psychology of sexual offenders, has not examined Wilson and can't comment on his case, but has worked with many high-risk offenders like Wilson. On the one hand, you have the interest in deviant sex, and on the other you don't care whether you hurt people. There are no brakes on you, so to speak. You just simply do what you can do. At the end of the day, um, they simply, um, have a much elevated risk. But Professor Ward disagrees with the strict conditions imposed on Wilson's release to a Whanganui home next month. He believes those conditions could be increase the risk of reoffending. Paradoxically, the way to keep safe is not to increase monitoring and more restrictions on people. It's to actually create a social network around them. Create a possibility of a better life for them. You cannot keep an eye on people if they're on the fringes of society, if they're so isolated and restricted. So you're suggesting we should embrace such a person? I'm suggesting that the best way to keep safe is to reintegrate someone; is to` is to help them find a passageway back into the world. If you isolate people and stigmatise them, the chances are they will continue to get resentful. Paradoxically, we can increase their risk of reoffending. The news this week that Stewart Murray Wilson won't be returning to his old stomping ground of Blenheim is welcomed, but there are still concerns. I share the same fears as everybody else. Colin MacKay believes that even with high-tech monitoring, Wilson will still have the urge to reoffend. There's ways around most things, and if you apply your mind to it, I'm sure there will be loopholes that will be... th-that he may well look for and find. He hasn't changed, and that sadly means he won't change when he's released. Wilson is forbidden from having contact with his former wife, Lorraine. She says she's put that part of her life behind her. I'm starting to rebuild up again. Rebuilding after the damage. There's been a blow to both the top teeth and the bottom? > There's been a blow to both the top teeth and the bottom? > Yep. Yeah. And to her nose? > And to her nose? > Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dentist Dr Saud Ibrahim has never seen anything like it. Yeah, I thought that's been hit by a car or a train or something like this, but not like a person to do something like this to her. These screws are very tiny screws, but they are amazing. He's offered to give Lorraine a whole new set of teeth ` implants ` for nothing. It will change her life. So she'll be able to eat and speak properly for the first time in 25 years. Count from one to 10. Count from one to 10. One, two, three, four, five.... Lorraine says she's no longer afraid of Wilson. But she knows she's got backup in her old mate, Darlene. Lovely. You know, if he gets out of jail, looks for Lorraine and hurts her, I swear to you, I will kill him. My partner already know what I've got intentions for him if he finds her and hurts her again. I will not allow him to hurt another woman either. I'm not scared of him. And if you should happen to run into him when he comes out? And if you should happen to run into him when he comes out? (CHUCKLES) Well, all his birthdays will be coming at once. What a great gesture by Dr Saud Ibrahim Sowd, the dentist who gave Lorraine $20,000 worth of dental work for free because he was so moved by her story. On another note, we want to acknowledge our producer, Chris Cooke, who met Stewart Wilson on another story back in the early '90s. Chris tipped off welfare agencies and the police about Wilson's treatment of his family. Chris's work at that point was integral to kickstarting the police investigation. Coming up ` the migration phenomenon known as ping pong Poms. They're over Australia and going home in droves. Don't like the beer, don't like the pubs. Don't like the beer, don't like the pubs. Well, you don't get pints. It's like a ladies' drink, isn't it? So nobody's ever called you a whinging Pom? So nobody's ever called you a whinging Pom? Not yet. I tell you what. After this show, they will. I tell you what. After this show, they will. It's gonna change. But it isn't just a couple of families doing a U-turn. Last year, more than 7000 Britons took their bat and ball and went home. Oh, my throat. If your sore throat needs warming comfort,... ...try Strepsils Warm. It has a special formulation with proven antibacterial action and a gentle warming sensation. Ah. Ooh. Ooh. (GIGGLES) Wrap up with Strepsils Warm. Now a blocked nose can also be relieved with the menthol vapours of Strepsils Sore Throat and Blocked Nose. POP! Welcome back. They are over there and over Australia. They're packing their bags in their thousands and heading back. Each year, thousands of British immigrants who moved to Australia for the better life suddenly realise they made the wrong decision. So great is the annual exodus that academics have named the phenomenon 'ping pong Poms'. Try saying that five times fast. And, believe you me, the departing Poms don't hold back about Australia's shortcomings. Here's Peter Fitzsimmons. OH, IT'S SO COLD DOWN HERE AT THE MOMENT. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF SPREADING YOUR BUM DOWN ON SUCH A COLD BEACH? NO CHANCE OF SWIMMING TODAY. IT BEGINS WITH A DREAM. THE DREAM OF A BETTER LIFE. EVEN MY TITS ARE COLD. THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM. BLOODY COLD? YEAH? HUH? (CHUCKLES) NEVERMIND. YOU'LL BE TOO HOT SOON. TO SWAP LIFE HERE FOR HERE. # THIS IS AUSTRALIA. # BUT JUST LIKE THE FIRST FLEET, MANY IMMIGRATING ENGLISH HAVE SECOND THOUGHTS. CARL? CARL? CAN YOU COME UP HERE, PLEASE? WELL, THERE'S THINGS IN THE SEA THAT'LL KILL YOU AGAIN. WELCOME AND FAREWELL. NOWADAYS, STAYERS SEEM TO BE THE EXCEPTION, NOT THE RULE. ARE YOU STAYING OR ARE YOU GOING BACK? NO, WE'RE STAYING. YOU'RE STAYING? BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE GOING BACK. BUT IT ISN'T JUST A COUPLE OF FAMILIES DOING A U-TURN. LAST YEAR, MORE THAN 7000 BRITONS TOOK THEIR BAT AND BALL AND WENT HOME. THEY'RE KNOWN AS PING-PONG POMS. WE'RE JUST GOING BACK TO BEING SCRIMPING AND SCRAPPING AT THE INCOME LEVEL. AMONG THEIR NUMBER IS JEFF MCMILLAN, WITH WHOM I'D ONLY JUST BEEN ACQUAINTED. SORRY, PETER. PETER FITZ... IS IT FITZGERALD? FITZSIMMONS. SAME SPELLING AS A FAMOUS AUTHOR. # TAKE ME BACK TO DEAR OLD... # THIS IS WHAT JEFF, HIS WIFE AND TWO CHILDREN LEFT BEHIND IN LANCASTER, ENGLAND FIVE YEARS AGO. THEIR LEAVING PARTY WAS FULL OF HIGH HOPES. OH, YOU'VE GOT TO SEE US GO. WE'LL GET ON WELL WITH THE AUSTRALIANS. # I COME FROM A LAND DOWN UNDER. # THEY SETTLED IN THE SUNSHINE STATE, SET THEMSELVES IN A MODERN THREE-BEDROOM HOME NEAR BRISBANE. BUT UNLIKE THE ENGINES OF THE JET THAT BROUGHT THEM HERE, THEY HAVEN'T STOPPED WHINING SINCE. HOW DO YOU FIND, UH, AUSTRALIA'S FOOD, GENERALLY? CRAP. THE ROADS HAVE POTHOLES. THEY'RE ATROCIOUS. THEY WON'T GET TO THEM FOR WEEKS. SAUSAGES ARE JUST AWFUL. OUR SAUSAGES ARE AWFUL? THE BRISBANE DRIVERS, THEY DO ALL THE TAKING. THAT'S WHY THE UNDERTAKERS ARE ALWAYS SO BUSY. I'VE NOT MET ANYONE THAT SAYS THAT THEIR LIFE IS JUST JUICIER. EXCUSE ME? IS IT POSSIBLE THAT YOU TWO ARE` I'M TRYING TO THINK OF THAT EXPRESSION. OH, I REMEMBER. WHINGING POMS? NO. WE'VE NEVER WHINGED. WE'RE JUST STATING THE DIFFERENCES. WE'VE NEVER WHINGED. AT LEAST, IN ENGLAND, WE'VE GOT BETTER COURTESY ON THE ROADS. I WON'T MISS THE DRIVING HERE. THIS IS WHAT WE CALL IN AUSTRALIA MEAT AND ONE VEG. SOMEBODY'S LET ME OUT. IT'S RARE. HE MUST BE ENGLISH. MUST BE A POMMY. # WE BELONG TOGETHER. # FOR THE WALDRAN FAMILY IN NORFOLK, IT'S ONLY A FEW MORE DAYS BEFORE THEY LEAVE. SURROUNDED BY BOXES, THEIR INTEREST IN US, LIKE SO MANY ENGLISH, WAS SPARKED WHILE WATCHING HOME AND AWAY. AND THAT, IT SEEMS, IS WHERE THE PING-PONG PROBLEM BEGINS. CAN'T WAIT TO GET THERE. CAN YOU? I THINK THE GROWTH OF A RANGE OF TELEVISION PROGRAMMES IN THE UK ABOUT A BETTER LIFE DOWN UNDER, HOME AND AWAY, ALL OF THOSE THINGS THAT WE'RE VERY FAMILIAR WITH, PAINT A PICTURE OF LIFE IN AUSTRALIA THAT PERHAPS DOESN'T ALWAYS LIVE UP TO, UH, PEOPLE'S EXPECTATIONS. PING-PONG POMS ARE SO INTRIGUING THAT, AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, PROFESSOR ROGER BURROWS HAS FORGED A CAREER TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF IT. I THINK WE'VE BEEN VERY SURPRISED BY HOW REMARKABLY UNPREPARED PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WHEN THEY'VE MOVED TO AUSTRALIA. THEY REALLY HAVE BEEN DRIVEN BY THE DREAM, BY THE IMAGES, RATHER THAN BY A REALISTIC ASSESSMENT ABOUT WHAT THE DAY-TO-DAY MUNDANE LIFE IS GOING TO BE LIKE. WE DON'T GO TO THE BEACH TOO OFTEN, DO WE? WE TEND TO STAY INDOORS BECAUSE YOU WORRY ABOUT THE KIDS BURNING. SKIN CANCER. THE WAVE IS TOO ROUGH FOR ME. TOO DANGERS, INNIT? THE RIPS WILL TAKE YOU OUT OR THEY'LL MAKE YOU DROWN. EVERYONE'S GOT TO FIND OUT SOONER OR LATER. YOU GET SAND STUCK ALL OVER YOU. YOU GET SICK. IN SYDNEY, ANOTHER FAMILY OVER HERE AND OVER US AND HEADING BACK. I'M JUST GOING TO GO UPSTAIRS AND MAKE A START ON ZAC'S ROOM. OK. ALL RIGHT. FOR MICHELLE, BABY ZAC AND CARL,... CARL? CARL? CARL, COME YOU COME UP HERE? ...HISTORY IS REPEATING ITSELF. MY FATHER WAS A TEMP IN THE '60S, SO HE CAME TO AUSTRALIA AS A BIT OF AN ADVENTURE, AND HE ENDED UP STAYING HERE, I THINK, IT WAS FIVE YEARS. HE RETURNED TO ENGLAND, BUT AUSTRALIA NEVER LEFT HIS HEART. I GREW UP WITH AUSTRALIA AS THIS FANTASTIC PLACE FROM MY FATHER. AND WE ALWAYS JUST THOUGHT, 'LET'S GIVE IT A WHIRL.' RUB MY SHOULDERS. SO FIVE YEARS AGO, THEY IMMIGRATED. BUT EVERY YEAR SINCE HAS BEEN A STRUGGLE TO MAKE ENDS MEET. AUSTRALIA, THEY FIND, IS TOO EXPENSIVE. COS I ALWAYS THOUGHT THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM OF THE, UH, QUARTER-ACRE BLOCK OF LAND WITH THE POOL AND THE HOUSE, BUT IT DOESN'T EXIST. YOU KNOW, THE CLOTHING OVER HERE, I DON'T FIND AS A GOOD QUALITY AS` AS, UM, IN EUROPE, AND IT'S A LOT MORE EXPENSIVE AS WELL. I THINK AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE DO TEND TO MOAN A LOT MORE THAN ENGLISH PEOPLE. NO. YES. # THIS IS PARADISE. # OPEN YOUR EYES. # WELCOME TO PARADISE. ALL CHUCKLE THIS WILL BE CARL AND MICHELLE'S LAST LUNCH LIVING THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM. A DREAM THEY FEEL ONLY AUSTRALIANS TRULY GET. AUSTRALIANS TEND TO THINK THIS IS THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH, AND IT CAN BE A BIT ONE-DIMENSIONAL HERE. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN AUSTRALIAN AND A YOGURT? YEAH, WHAT'S THAT? MORE CULTURE THAN THE YOGURT. ALL CHUCKLE THERE ARE REALLY JUST THREE MAIN REASONS WHY PEOPLE RETURN. FIRST OF ALL, PEOPLE MISS THEIR FAMILY. WE ARE MISSING FAMILY. THE SECOND MAIN REASON IS THAT PEOPLE FEEL HOMESICK. THEY FEEL DISPLACE. I AGREE. I DON'T SUIT AUSTRALIA'S CULTURE BECAUSE I'M A POM. AND THE THIRD REASON, AND PERHAPS THIS IS A MORE IMPORTANT REASON, AND IT HAS BEEN HISTORICALLY, IS THAT PEOPLE FEEL THEIR DREAMS HAVE NOT BEEN FULFILLED. I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOUR HEART'S BACK IN ENGLAND WHEN THE SUN'S SHINING HERE AND SURF'S UP. YEAH, BUT I DON'T DO BEACH. I DON'T WANT SUN DOWN MY CRACK. (SNIGGERS) I'M DEHYDRATED. I FORGOT ABOUT MY PHONE. MY PHONE'S STUFFED. I AIN'T GOT A PHONE NOW. WE'RE NOT BEACH PEOPLE. BUT, AS I WAS TO DISCOVER, THE MCMILLAN FAMILY WAS NOT UNITED. HAVE YOU HAD THE JOY OF CATCHING A WAVE AND FEELING THAT RUSH? DO YOU HAVE THAT? YEAH. ALL RIGHT. GIRLFRIEND, YOU'RE ONE OF OURS, THEN. WE'RE NOT GOING TO LET YOU GO BACK TO ENGLAND. A FEW DAYS BEFORE THEIR FLIGHT BACK TO ENGLAND, 16-YEAR-OLD DANIELLE BROKE RANKS. NO, I DIDN'T WANT TO GO BACK. I STILL DON'T WANT TO. I LIKE IT HERE. DO YOU FEEL AUSTRALIAN? YEAH. DO YOU? YEAH. WHO DO YOU WANT TO WIN THE NEXT ASHES SERIES? AUSTRALIA. GOOD! (CHUCKLES) COME SEE YOUR BOOKS. JUST IN CASE YOU FORGET WHAT YOU WAS FROM, OUR LITTLE AUSSIE MAN. SO IT HASN'T QUITE WORKED FOR YOU THE WAY YOU MIGHT HAVE HOPED? WHAT ABOUT ZAC? TO GROW UP ON THE BEACH. TO BE A NIPPER. I KNOW. I IMAGINE HE'LL LOOK BACK AND SAY, 'WHAT THE HELL? 'YOU KNOW, THIS IS WHERE, YOU KNOW, I WAS BORN, AND YOU LEFT, AND YOU BROUGHT ME BACK HERE.' BUT, UM, WE NEVER SET OUT TO COME HERE FOREVER. STAY WITH ME ON THIS THOUGHT EXPERIMENT. HERE IS AN AUSTRALIAN PUB. THERE'S A BEACH, THERE'S COLD BEER, THERE'S SUN SHINING OUTSIDE. THERE'S BEAUTIFUL GIRLS WALKING PAST IN BIKINIS. AND HERE IS AN ENGLISH PUB. AND IT'S COLD OUTSIDE, AND IT'S WET, AND IT'S ALL A BIT TIGHT. AND THERE'S SORT OF A SMOKY ATMOSPHERE. OK. YOU'RE AN INTELLIGENT MAN. WHICH ONE OF THESE ARE YOU TO PICK UP THAT YOU REALLY WANT? WELL, I'LL GO FOR THAT COS I'M USED TO THAT SORT OF THING. THAT CULTURE. ONLY COS YOU DIDN'T KNOW BETTER. ONCE YOU'VE TRIED THE AUSTRALIAN PUB, MM-MM. FAR SUPERIOR? FAR SUPERIOR. NO. I LIKE JEFF'S FRANKNESS EVEN THOUGH I COULD HARDLY UNDERSTAND A WORD HE WAS SAYING. WHAT I THINK WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DO WITH YOU ON THIS STORY, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO PUT SUBTITLE. YOU DON'T LIKE THE BEER, YOU DON'T LIKE THE PUBS. WELL, YOU DON'T GET PINTS. IT'S LIKE A LADIES' DRINK, INNIT? DRINKING OUT OF THAT? SO NOBODY'S EVER CALLED YOU A WHINGING POM? NOT YET. I TELL YOU WHAT ` AFTER THIS SHOW, THEY WILL. IT'S GONNA CHANGE. I love it. When we come back, the pledge of loyalty to the lucky country. Does it mean through thick and thin? I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people. Is it a bit 'up yours' to us? To grab your Australian citizenship papers and go, 'Taxi, get me back to Britain!' Welcome back. They don't like the sausages or the beer and, oh, there are things in the sea that bite. There are so many reasons why English immigrants are leaving Australia, going back home with their dreams unfulfilled. Wages, missing friends and family and the like. Either way, when the chips are down, that pledge of loyalty to the lucky country doesn't amount to much. YOU PINGED OVER HERE IN 2005. IS THERE ABSOLUTELY NO CHANCE SOMETIME IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE YOU'RE GOING TO PONG YOUR WAY BACK THERE? I NEVER WAKE UP IN THE MORNING AND MISS ENGLAND. THAT'S THE BIG TELLING FACTOR. I USUALLY WAKE UP IN THE MORNING, LOOK OUT THE WINDOW, HEAR A CROW OR A PARROT AND KNOW I'M HOME. ONE OF OUR MOST FAMOUS IMMIGRANTS, LEO SAYER, IS SURPRISED BY THE PING-PONG POMS. I JUST REALLY WORRY WHAT THEY'RE GOING BACK TO. ARE THEY GONNA GET` HI, LEO. HELLO! HOW ARE YOU? NICE TO MEET YOU. SOMETHING IN AUSTRALIA HAS... WELL, TO BE TRUTHFUL, TOUCHED MY HEART. AND SOMETHING HAS MADE ME FEEL LIKE I BELONG HERE. SO THAT FEELING OF BELONGING IS POSSIBLE FOR PEOPLE TO HAVE, BUT YOU CAN'T FORCE 'EM. WELL, LAST NIGHT IN ENGLAND. WELL, LAST NIGHT IN ENGLAND. YEP. GOOD NIGHT. GOOD NIGHT, THEN. SEE YOU IN THE MORNING. AS THE WALDRENS PREPARED TO LEAVE NORFOLK FOR THE BIG JOURNEY DOWN UNDER, IN AN OLD QUEENSLAND BUTTER FACTORY, DOZENS OF NEW AUSTRALIANS WERE GETTING READY TO MAKE IT OFFICIAL ` PROOF, PERHAPS, THAT THIS COUNTRY ISN'T SO BAD AFTER ALL. WE ARE REALLY GLAD THAT AUSTRALIA ACCEPTED US FOR WHO WE ARE, AND WE'RE JUST PROUD TO BE IN THIS COUNTRY. VERY VERY GOOD PLACE TO LIVE, THIS ONE. I LOVE THIS PLACE. IT'S A LOVELY PLACE TO BE. I FEEL MORE SAFE THAN BEING BACK HOME. BOTH: ...FROM THIS TIME FORWARD... BUT NOT EVERYONE WHO TAKES THE PLEDGE INTENDS TO KEEP IT. BOTH: ... PLEASE MAY OUR LOYALTY TO AUSTRALIA AND ITS PEOPLE... A FORTNIGHT BEFORE THEY FLEW OUT, THE MACMILLANS, LIKE MANY PING-PONG POMS, TOOK OUT AUSTRALIAN CITIZENSHIP. APPLAUSE IS IT A BIT 'UP YOURS' TO US TO GRAB YOUR AUSTRALIAN CITIZENSHIP PAPERS AND GO, 'TAXI! GET ME BACK TO BRITAIN. GET ME BACK TO THE AIRPORT'? I FEEL A BIT FUNNY SOMETIMES ABOUT GETTING IT, BUT, YOU KNOW, IF I WANT TO COME BACK IN A YEAR'S TIME, AND I THINK IF WE COME BACK, IT'LL BE COMING BACK TO SETTLE, AND THAT'S IT. CARL, ARE YOU AN AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN, OR ARE YOU HONEST? A BRITISH CITIZEN WITH AUSTRALIAN PAPERS. IF I'M HONEST, I'M A BRITISH CITIZEN FIRST AND FOREMOST... WITH ANOTHER PASSPORT. # AUSTRALIANS, ALL LET US REJOICE. # WE DON'T KNOW IT. < # FOR... BOTH: # WE ARE YOUNG AND FREE. # < # WITH... < # WITH... # ...GOLDEN SOIL AND WEALTH, WE'LL TOIL. < # OUR HOME... < # OUR HOME... # ...IS... < # OUR HOME... # ...IS... < # ...GIRT BY SEA. # IN HISTORY'S PAGE, LET EVERY STAGE. # ADVANCE, AUSTRALIA FAIR. # IN JOYFUL STRAINS, THEN, LET US SING. # ADVANCE, AUSTRALIA FAIR.. # APPLAAUSE NICE TO HAVE MET YA. SAY GOODBYE, AUSTRALIA. SAY GOODBYE, AUSTRALIA. SEE YA NEXT YEAR. NO, WE WON'T. NO, WE WON'T. MAYBE. CIAO FOR NOW. VEGETATION'S DIFFERENT HERE, ISN'T IT? QUIET CHATTER AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS YOU READY? BAND PLAYING FOR US. BAND PLAYING FOR US. WHAT A WELCOME. BRASS BAND CONTINNUES PLAYING THIS IS NICE, INNIT, EH? BRILLIANT. GREAT. (CHUCKLES) REALLY GREAT. # ADVANCE, AUSTRALIA FAIR. # IN JOYFUL STRAINS, THEN, LET US SING. # ADVANCE, AUSTRALIA FAIR. # WELCOME TO NAMBOUR ON BEHALF OF THE SUNSHINE COAST REGIONAL COUNCIL, AND A COUPLE OF GIFTS HERE TO MAKE YOU FEEL VERY AUSSIE. AND A COUPLE OF GIFTS HERE TO MAKE YOU FEEL VERY AUSSIE. OH, LOVELY. YEAH. LITTLE KANGAROO. WHAT DID YOU THINK WHEN YOU CAME AROUND THE CORNER? YOU SAW THE BRASS BAND. > THAT WAS REALLY UNEXPECTED. THAT WAS REALLY UNEXPECTED. BIG SURPRISE, YEAH. WASN'T EXPECTING THAT. THAT WAS REALLY NICE. NOT JUST FOR US. OH NO. WE DO THAT FOR EVERYBODY THAT ARRIVES. > Now, if you're English, living in NZ and you are over us and headed home, we'd like to know why. Get in touch with us. There is our address. Now, when we come back, the big band with the big sound and enjoying some big success. Rodger Fox is next. BAND PLAYS JAZZ MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES MUSIC CRESCENDOS Welcome back. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, the Beatles and Rodger Fox. Yes, put Rodger Fox in that list of musicians who've recorded albums at the world famous Capitol Records Studios in Los Angeles. Rodger's been a big-band leader for 40 years, and to celebrate, he's just taken his orchestra where no Kiwi jazz band has gone before. (PLAYS TROMBONE) (PLAYS TROMBONE) A cold, wet night in the capital,... (PLAYS TROMBONE) ...and the Wellington Jazz Orchestra is chasing a dream. There's been no NZ jazz band ever to my knowledge. So you're the first to scratch k1w1 on the dressing room wall? So you're the first to scratch k1w1 on the dressing room wall? Yeah, that's the one. Yeah. The dream: to be the first all-Kiwi band to record in the famous Capitol Studios half a world away, and to get there, they're blowing their hearts out. BAND PLAYS JAZZ MUSIC If it's a hard road to rock and roll, well, jazz is even harder. It's still looked at as being music down there, and the classical side is sort of more the high-end, highbrow, get all the money side of things. But after 18 months in the pubs and clubs, they've finally scrapped together the cash. JAZZ MUSIC CRESCENDOS Los Angeles, California ` entertainment capital of the world. For generations, a magnet for talent for those who dream of the big time. Today some big fish from the minnow pond have come to Capitol. You walk down the corridor. There's the photo of Frank Sinatra, and there's Ella Fitzgerald, and there's Bobby Darin. It was just, like, mind-blowing, really. And, uh, but that had a really positive effect on the band. Walking down these corridors a highlight in Rodger's long career. But it all could have been so different. Rodger's father, Louie, wanted him to play strings. I was sent to the local nun and, uh, she, uh, tried to make me play the violin, and about three months later, my parents were summonsed, and it was, like, 'I don't think Rodger really wants to play violin.' Why was that, do you think? Why was that, do you think? Oh, I don't know. It just didn't grip me. I just` I just didn't have an affinity to it. I was given the trumpet, and I was off. But the trumpet didn't last either. Louie was head of music at Mana College, and when the school band was short on trombone players... He took the trumpet off me and gave me a trombone, and all the trombone players had left school that year, and I was going to be the trombone player in the... in the, uh, Mana College concert band. (PLAYS TROMBONE) < With Dad as the head of music, you had to be good. That's right. I had seven weeks to learn it and get it together and... That's right. I had seven weeks to learn it and get it together and... < And you did. That's amazing. < Trombone is not an easy` < Trombone is not an easy` No, no, no. I keep telling people that, but, uh... (LAUGHS) There was a time when Rodger thought he would be a classical trombonist, but in the early 1970s, jazz rockers Quincy Conserve seemed like a much better option. Yep, that's Rodger on the left. How did the big band come about? I listened to big band music. 'Man, this would be good.' There's a few big bands around town. They were mainly more, sort of, probably dance-band big bands. A bit akin to Glenn Miller. But they were all controlled by the older guys, and, uh, basically, being a young player coming through, you know, they just wouldn't let us play. So my mind-set was, 'Bugger them.' < Yeah. If you can't beat them, they won't let us play, um, you know, that was it. BAND PLAYS UPBEAT MUSIC And so the Rodger Fox Big Band was born. BAND PLAYS JAUNTY MUSIC Over the years, there were many highlights. A royal variety performance. (PLAYS TROMBONE) And the winner... Heavy Company by Rodger Fox. And the winner... Heavy Company by Rodger Fox. APPLAUSE The first Jazz Record of The Year Award. Being the first ones to win the NZ Jazz Album of The Year was, you know, that was special, It took a few people by surprise. It sort of, uh, hacked off the jazz police of NZ. But, hey, did that worry me? No. But, hey, did that worry me? No. BOTH CHUCKLE Gradually, the underdog became leader of the pack. The Rodger Fox Big Band of years gone passed, you probably only had, well, less than a half were professional musicians, and the rest were plumbers who came together to rehearse every week and play gigs. BAND PLAYS 'GONNA FLY NOW' (PLAYS TROMBONE) The band I've got now, the Wellington Jazz Orchestra is probably more professional, mainly because it's been set up around what I do at the School of Music. So, you know. a lot of them are either lecturers at the school or ex-students or whatever. So there's been a bit of a dynamic shift. And now the icing on the cake as the jazz orchestra prepares for its journey to LA. One, two, one, two, three and... One, two, one, two, three and... BAND PLAYS It's the final rehearsal. What lies ahead is beginning to sink in. BAND PLAYS JAUNTY MUSIC But they know they can mix it with the best. I mean, the band plays at a very good level. Uh, we've sort of proved that as a band, uh, by the American artists we've backed. BAND PLAYS JAUNTY MUSIC HUMS: # Da, da, da! Da, da, da, da.... # And they'll take with them a new composition called Jimi, a tribute to the musical genius of Jimi Hendrix. It's written by legendary American composer Bill Cunliffe especially for his friend Rodger Fox. HUMS: # Ahh... # He finished it off yesterday, and here we are this morning knocking it into shape with Jimi. It's just days till their departure, and the orchestra is rehearsing Jimi for the first time. That's what I've done all my career, really, is to try and have music which is challenging for the band and interesting for the band to play, but can connect with many different audience, demographics. And then suddenly rehearsal becomes the real thing. LA, Capitol Records, recording Jimi. Composer Bill Cunliffe has come in to help out. He really wanted to be` come and be part of it, and it was good because, basically, he brought an energy to the project as well. The technical thing is important, but what's really important important is the energy and the whole, kind of, spirit of it, and I knew they would have that. BAND PLAYS I was really pleased how the band kept at it and rose to the occasion, and I think, you know, I think they did the band proud. These days, Dr Rodger Fox is keen to nurture new talent. Holding high-school workshops throughout the country. It's Rodger's way of saying thank you. You have to want to put it back, or I think you've lost the point of why you're doing it, quite frankly. Big bands have a big following in NZ high schools. There are nearly 100 of them. And every one of those band's got 15, 20 players in them. So they're all playing jazz. They come to workshops, and they go to concerts. I think the jazz side is in great heart. The thing that people don't realise is if you can play jazz, you can play so many styles of music. Jazz, rock, blues ` it's all been recorded here. And Rodger Fox hopes, someday, some of his students will follow his tracks to Capitol. You're in that studio where all that history happened. Here we were from Wellington, NZ, and we're there, you know? Unbelievable, really. Yeah, I mean, that's it. I mean, next` Abbey Road next, man. With Capitol behind them, there are now plans for the Wellington Jazz Orchestra to record next year at the studio made famous by the Beatles. You've got to make these things happen for yourself. MUSIC CRESCENDOES, ENDS Isn't that great? 100 high-school big bands. Well, busy man is Rodger Fox this week. He's playing with the NZ Youth Jazz Orchestra in Wellington, Napier and Palmerston North. Well, that's our show for tonight. We'd love to hear from you on Facebook. Meanwhile, thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next week.