Rough Science - New Zealand - Series III

(BBC2/PBS, 2002)

Five ingenious scientists journey to the other side of the world to hunt for gold. Presenter Kate Humble joins this team of modern day prospectors as they follow in the footsteps of the original gold pioneers on the rugged and unforgiving west coast of New Zealand's South Island.

To find gold they have to solve a series of seeming impossible challenges with only basic tools, simple materials and a few helpful household items like a bag of sugar and some old radios. The scientists' brainpower, and muscle power, are tested to the limit as they battle with dense forest and fast flowing rivers in one of the wettest places on Earth However, it is not all about gold: they are also given tasks like measuring the speed of Franz-Josef Glacier… the fastest moving in the world. The team's ultimate challenge is to make a souvenir from pure New Zealand gold that they have collected in the previous episodes.

Four Wind's Martin Belderson co-directed the series (including the high altitude, glacier and gold-panning sequences) and supervised two of the six episodes in post-production.

The series premiered on BBC2 in the prime-time slot of 7.30pm on Friday nights.

Camera: Derek Firmin/Drew Seymour
Sound: John Fowkes
Editor: Dave Monk
Director/Producer: Martin Belderson
Series Producer: Steve Evanson

(All stills by Drew Seymour)