Special guests

Jim Mora

Radio New Zealand National: Afternoon host and TV presenter

James Mora thought that 'Jim' was friendlier for radio. This was a long time ago in Dunedin. James' mother disagreed, but her cries of 'Common!' were to no avail, as young James attempted to reach a wide audience of radio listeners — in what he thought was an egalitarian fashion — by shortening his perfectly good Christian name.

So, many media incarnations later, only Jim's family and friends call him James. And, indeed, he has nothing against the name 'Jim'. There are many fine Jims, probably more than there are fine Jameses. Think about it, and you may well say, 'You know, that's right.' Or you may not, and does it matter, because what's in a name? It's a small thing.

The same thing could be said of a CV. Jim could list all his career achievements here, and no-one would read them, because the truth about your Vita is that the only person who reads it is you. Everyone else just glances cursorily at the front page.

So here's Jim's, in one short paragraph:

Will host another series of TV ONE's Mucking In; is writing a second series of the little animation show The Adventures of Massey Ferguson; is at work on his (and artist Brent Chambers') big children's animation feature for TV, Staines Down Drains, a 26-part series with international partners; has some more children's books coming out; has three beautiful little children called Elizabeth, Jack, and Grace; lives in inner-city Auckland with partner Mary Lambie, former host of TV's Good Morning and now a broadcaster and columnist, with two cats also on the property and, usually, the neighbour's chickens as well.

David McPhail

TV personality

David McPhail

David is one of the most well-known and experienced comedy actors in New Zealand. For the past 20 years, David has written and appeared in a wide variety of New Zealand television programmes including Letter to Blanchy and McPhail and Gadsby.

David has received many awards for his work. He has been named both Actor of the Year and Television Personality of the Year on two occasions. He holds the QSM for service to the community, and was nominated for the 1999 SPADA Onfilm Champion Award.

David now does much work at The Court Theatre in Christchurch, both as an actor and director, in productions ranging from The School For Scandal to Look Back in Anger. He has also performed with Opera New Zealand.

David has produced and directed over 300 programmes for Television New Zealand, ranging from rock music series to documentaries and children’s programmes. He has published two books in association with Jon Gadsby and A.K. Grant, and is currently a columnist for The Press in Christchurch.

Master of ceremonies

2009 Awards programme

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