She’s back behind the wheel, and this time, she wants to find out what it is that makes us tick.
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After a prolific career on stage and screen, 83-year-old Miriam Margolyes is on the road again. The BAFTA-award winner is known for her roles in the Harry Potter movies, Call the Midwife and Doctor Who, but she’s also written a memoir, appeared on the cover of British Vogue at 82, and her appearances on The Graham Norton Show are infamous for her profanity and naughtiness. In recent years, she’s made several travel documentaries like Miriam and Alan: Lost in Scotland and Miriam Margolyes: Australia Unmasked. She is a brilliant storyteller. She also never misses an opportunity to fart on camera.
Now Margolyes is farting her way around our country in her new travel documentary series Miriam Margolyes in New Zealand. She’s visiting Aotearoa to play a nun in an upcoming movie, but as a British-Australian who’s never been here before, she’s keen to find out what being a New Zealander is really like. Driving the length of the country in a camper van, Margolyes wants to experience our mountains, sea and hills, but also understand what challenges we face as a nation. “What sets the country apart?” she wonders, as she flies into Wellington, picks up her rental van and cheers with delight when she realises her feet successfully reach the pedals.
It’s clear that this is more than just your usual celebrity-visiting-new Zealand series. While Margolyes admits to being open to new experiences, she also declares she won’t pretend to like things if she actually doesn’t. It’s refreshing to see a tourist arrive in the county without immediately saying how quaint and wonderful everything is. “Fuck off!” she yells a few minutes into episode one, berating a Wellington driver who honks their horn impatiently when she struggles to restart her van.
It’s a delightful start, and Margolyes sets off on her journey through the North Island more interested in learning about who we are, warts and all (farts and all?), than ticking off every must-see tourist activity. Sure, she’s won over by a dramatic Hurricanes rugby game and a tour of Hobbiton – where she casually upstages a chat with Sir Peter Jackson by revealing she knew JRR Tolkien as a child – but she also travels to Tyburn Monastery and visits the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Community, where she wonders why New Zealand only accepts 1500 refugees each year.
She journeys north on the narrow rural roads beside the Whānganui river to reach the marae at Kaiwhaiki, where she meets local iwi who campaigned to have the river legally recognised as a person. She’s visibly moved by the experience, and of learning about the connection between Maori and the awa. “If you think of it as a person, you treasure it. You care for it. You respect it,” Margolyes muses later, as she sits in front of her camper van and looks out over the river.
Margolyes is also inspired by her visit to Te Kura Taumata o Panguru in Northland, where she’s told about the power of reo Māori in creating identity and pride. “If you take away people’s language, you dent their identity, you extinguish their traditions,” she reflects, before she drives down to Taupō to meet the Black Ferns. Ruby Tui – wearing the uniquely New Zealand combo of socks and jandals – explains why while not being Māori herself, it’s crucial that she embraces the haka. “Maori culture is part of the culture of the country I’m representing,” Tui tells Margolyes. “How can I not respect that and educate myself about that?”
“You represent more than you are,” Margolyes replies in understanding.
All of this makes Miriam Margolyes in New Zealand an incredibly timely show. At the same time that the government is removing te reo Māori names from government departments, withdrawing funding for te reo Māori teacher training and introducing a divisive Treaty Principles Bill, this 83-year-old arrives with an open mind and curious heart to find out what identity really means in Aotearoa. There’s no doubt Miriam will amuse viewers with her unpredictable bluntness and incorrigible spirit, but her journey around the country will also remind us of what makes us unique, and highlight the importance of respecting and nurturing the different parts of our national identity.
As Margolyes explores Aotearoa, her road trip is a chance to see ourselves through a fresh set of eyes. This series is less about showing off our green hills and bustling cities, and more about acknowledging the many voices of the people who live among them. In getting to know us, Margolyes takes viewers on an entertaining and thoughtful trip around the country. We might find that after watching, we’ll know ourselves a little better, too.
Miriam Margolyes screens on Sky Open on Sunday 9 February at 7.30pm and streams on Neon.