Secrets at Red Rocks: a delightful dive into nostalgic waters
Plus: The soothing birdcall of Endangered Species Aotearoa, gripping new drama End of the Valley, and a compelling local podcast.
This new series feels like a kids’ adventure show from the 80s – and that’s a very good thing.
As a child of the 1980s, I grew up feasting on a nutritious diet of local kidult TV dramas: Hotshotz, Strangers, Under the Mountain. Screening on the telly every Sunday, these shows featured smart, independent kids who explored their town on their BMXes, solving crimes and saving lives with cunning and nous far beyond their years. The adults were always the incompetent bad guys, and it was a thrill to watch kids your own age taking charge of their own destiny.
Four decades later, Sky Open’s new show Secrets of Red Rocks may well herald a new generation of kidult television. Based on the award-winning 2012 novel by Rachael King, the eight-part drama tells the story of Jake (Korban Knock), a young boy who discovers a mysterious sealskin that unlocks a secret spell. It’s a tale of adventure, told through the eyes of a curious, loveable 12-year-old, with a touch of the supernatural thrown in for good measure.
From the opening scenes of the rugged Wellington coastline, Secrets at Red Rocks sets a mystical tone as Jake arrives at Owhirō Bay to stay with his father Robert (Dominic Ona-Ariki), a science writer who’s renting a house by the beach. Jake’s mum has a new partner and a new baby, and Jake is feeling lost and ignored. Sadly, like all boring adults, Robert has to stay home and work, and suggests that Jake occupy himself by riding his bike to the unique Red Rocks along the coast. Robert gives his son one piece of important advice: “steer clear of the seals”.
It’s not long before Jake is clambering over the red rocks and into a cave, where he finds the seal skin. He also meets some of the locals, including the light-fingered Jessie (Zeta Sutherland) and her scary grandfather Ted (Jim Moriarty), who lives in a run-down shack and is a self-appointed kaitiaki of the coast. Plus, Jake keeps seeing the same mysterious red-haired woman wherever he goes. These characters are all somehow tangled up in Jake’s secret discovery of the sealskin – but what’s the significance of it, and what will happen now that Jake has it hidden under his bed?
There are stories within stories in Secrets of Red Rocks, as Māori myth and Celtic legends, sprites and silkies are woven through Jake’s coming-of-age adventure. The series mixes the mystical with the modern, as Jake tries to understand where he belongs in a changing world. There’s shades of The Secret of Roan Irish here, but the story is set amid a distinctly New Zealand landscape. Wellington’s wild, unpredictable coastline is the star of the show, providing the series with a rich and evocative background that’s full of both beauty and foreboding.
It’s hard to find a television show that all the family can enjoy together – especially one created in our own backyard – but Secrets at Red Rocks does the trick. It’s a delightful series filled with warmth and energy, one set in a familiar time and place but that also has a bewitching sense of otherworldliness to it. And as for that 80s nostalgia of the original kidult dramas? There’s not a device in sight here – just a whole lot of fresh air and freedom.
Secrets at Red Rocks streams on Neon from March 9 and screens on Sky Open from Sunday 9 March at 7.30pm.
Why you should watch: Bryn and Ku’s Singles Club
This week Bryn and Ku travel to Rakiura to go fishing for romantic connections and meet the young locals who are still looking for love in one of our most isolated communities. Sky is the bartender at the local pub, and has to deal with both endless chat-up lines and falling for people who aren’t sticking around. Harry is a single DOC worker who believes that Rakiura is a place that attracts loners, but also heightens feelings of romance. Returning to the mainland, Bryn and Ku reflect on their feelings around rejection, and how it relates to both their jobs in entertainment and own their dating lives. Made with the support of NZ On Air.
Why you should watch: Endangered Species Aotearoa (TVNZ+, TVNZ1)
A new season of this local documentary started this week on TVNZ, and Alex Casey discovered there was a lot to love about the show’s return – including the unlikely comedy duo of presenters Nicola Toki and Pax Assadi. “She takes the lead and brings enthusiasm and expertise, and he tags along as the wide-eyed and wise-cracking plus-one who, more often than not, just seems to want to take every critter home with him. “Is that for us to takeaway?” Assadi says, eyeing up a tiny tītipounamu in a cloth bag on Tiritiri Matangi. When they find an impossibly plush looking petrel chick, he’s at it again. “Nicola,” he whispers. “It’s a fluffy baby bird… It’s really cute.” Pause. “… Can I have it?” Highly recommended.
Why you should watch: End of the Valley (Whakaata Māori, Māori+)
Executive produced by Cliff Curtis and starring Temuera Morrison, Miriama Smith and Roimata Fox, End of the Valley is a new six-part Māori drama series about a court case between opposing iwi over a historical land claim. Liam Rātana had a sneak peek at the series, and reckons it’s a must-watch. “It’s hard to think of any other show that so aptly captures the tensions between corporate iwi executives and those at the flaxroots,” he writes in his review on The Spinoff. “The contrasts portrayed in the first two episodes perfectly illustrate both the stark differences and crossovers between the two groups. While Taungaroa is out playing golf and plotting his next move, Ngāti Kiokio kaumātua Taumata is busy worrying about pending water shortages. The subplots strike a chord for those familiar with the everyday realities of life in rural Māori settings. It is a brilliant writing debut for Richard Curtis (Te Arawa) and fellow writer/producer Lea Mclean (Ka Whaiwahi Tonu, Beyond the Veil).”
More pop culture news from The Spinoff:
The 10 nominees for the 2025 Taite Music Prize shortlist were announced this week, so we took a quick look at the albums vying for the prize.
Rachel Judkins talks to the mastermind behind the legendary singles ball on Rakiura Stewart Island.
“It’s weirdly become one giant ad for us both being single”: comedian and star of Bryn and Ku’s Singles Club Brynley Stent reveals what it’s really like to find love on the telly in this week’s My Life in TV.
Anna Rawhiti-Connell took one for the team and watched every single best-picture Oscar-nominated movie and lived to tell the tale.
Alex Casey talked to Tinā writer and director Miki Magasiva about setting the film in Ōtautahi, and what he learned from the community.
The 2025 Ockham Book Award shortlist was announced this week – check out all the finalists here.
Alex Casey chats with Joe Canham, co-creator of new interview series d8talk, about capturing the realities of dating for Gen Z singles in Aotearoa.
Why you should listen to: Nellie’s Baby (RNZ)
Nellie's Baby is an RNZ podcast from Kirsty Johnston, and it's really good. It came out about a year ago but I only started listening to it six months later, giving myself lots of space between the episodes. The content is heavy: Johnston has been contacted by the daughter of Nellie, a woman who gave birth to her while in Porirua Hospital's psychiatric facility. Sarah, the daughter, was adopted and now lives in the UK, and she and Kirsty are trying to figure out what happened to Nellie. Why was she sectioned? How was she treated? How did she die? While intense in content, it's a human story of what life in New Zealand's psychiatric hospitals was like. The details can be grim, and Johnston touches on some of the findings of the Abuse In Care inquiry, yet the intimacy Sarah and her family are willing to share means it's also a story of care and connection in difficult circumstances. I also appreciated Kirsty describing some of her own reaction to the story, showing how journalism like this takes place. / Shanti Mathias
Before we pop off…
I haven’t stopped thinking about Adrien Brody throwing his chewing gum at his girlfriend during the Oscars – was that why ratings were up for the first time in five years? I also enjoyed this article about why the “cheesy and cliched” ceremony needs an overhaul.
Meghan Markle’s new lifestyle show With Love, Meghan dropped on Netflix this week – here’s five key takeaways from the series, plus some thoughts on whether the show heralds the end of the influencer era.
Huge news: New Zealand author Saraid de Silva has been named on the longlist of the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Lady Gaga’s new album came out overnight, and this early review reckons it’s a welcome return to “her core themes of sex, sleaze and celebrity”.
That’s it for Rec Room for this week. If you liked what you read, why not share Rec Room with your friends and whānau.
By the way The Tribe is an iconic 1990s children's series from the Hutt Valley, with a global fanbase, which launched the careers of several NZ actors. It was the work of Raymond Thompson who sadly died in January.
And I agree Nellie's Baby is a great podcast.