More quality programming from TVNZ

From a Metro interview with English actor Jeremy Sheffield:

Q: What's the worst thing you've been in?

A: A show called Bombshell by the producers of Footballers' Wives. The only place it was ever shown was New Zealand, which was a godsend. The script was really diabolical. It almost made me give up acting.

Q: Isn't their stuff supposed to be tongue-in-cheek?

A: It was supposed to be serious but they couldn't manage it so tried to make it camp halfway through. I was playing an army officer who'd had his foot blown off. By the last episode I was stalking Zoe Lucker, hiding in some bushes while she's having dinner with her boyfriend, with camouflage paint on my face, holding a submachinegun. It was insane.

Can you guess which New Zealand network screened this masterpiece? Yes, it was TVNZ, the network that's supposed to be operating under a public service broadcasting model and that (I understand; correct me if I'm wrong here) neglected to purchase the BBC's fantastic Cranford, the 2007 drama series that rivalled the near-mythical levels of quality of the 1995 Firth and Ehle TV production of Pride And Prejudice. Still, at least I'm better off than TVNZ's viewers - I've seen Cranford and haven't had the chore of switching off Bombshell.

- Source: Metro.co.uk, 4 December 2008