All,
The made-for-television mini-series that you are referring to is called "Erebus: The Aftermath". It was made by TVNZ in 1987 (although is incorrectly stated as 1988 in Wikipedia, imdb and many other websites). It screened on television in both Australia and NZ in either 87 or 88. It is a 2 part series and runs for a total of just over 3 hours.
The mini-series won 6 awards in NZ, including best (supporting) actor Ian Mune, for his superb portrayal of Morrie Davis (then Air NZ Chief Executive). It is also noteworthy for its well researched and detailed plot, taking us time-wise from one week prior to the crash, right through the Royal Commission, Court of Appeal and Privy Council appeal. The series is, in part, told from the point of view of Justice Mahon, as his voice is used in a semi-narration role (particularly near the conclusion). Many of the actors cast also bore a striking resemblance to the characters that they were portraying, in particluar Justice Mahon, Morrie Davis, Sir Rob Muldoon and Ian Gemmell.
Don't bother searching through the internet for a copy of this. I doubt you will find one. I tried in vain for 5 years without success. I also contacted ABC (who screened it in 87/88) here in Australia and also TVNZ. Both of them said that they did not have the rights to sell me a copy, nor were there any plans to re-screen it.
If my recollections are correct, the programme has never been re-screened in Australia, and I would think that's the case as well in NZ. I am not sure why that, for such an excellent production, the biggest disaster in NZ history, with wide ranging ramifications for both the aviation and legal communities, particularly in NZ, it has never been re-screened.
I have my theory though - it was made by TNNZ, a goverment owned TV station. Air NZ was (I'm not sure if it still is) a government owned airline (at least in 1979 they held the majority of shares). The mini-series, although as objective as possible, seems to lean more towards Mahon's findings and opinions as being correct. It also portrays several of Air NZ's executive staff and board members at the time in a bad light. So, perhaps it was decided to never show it again
- ie let it rest finally (and the Erebus disaster will never rest it seems).
I am not sure if it was ever shown outside of Aust/NZ. Perhaps it was in the UK. Certainly, it has never been available for commercial sale.
Having said all that, I obtained a DVD of this series about a month ago, from a fellow PPR member via a different forum. Needless to say, I've watched it several times in that period.
There is an excellent thread "Erebus 25 Years on" which is currently very active with dozens of daily replies. Check it out if you haven't seen it.
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...152934&page=18
For anyone who's interested, there are also 2 documentaries that have been made about the Erebus crash. The first was "Flight 901: The Erebus Disaster", which was made in 1981, produced by Sonor Productions. Apparently, it was shown on TV in NZ in 1981 but was unsuitably titled "Death Flight 901" at that time. I obtained a copy about 7 years ago from the NZ Film Commission in Wellington, but I see that it does not appear on their website anymore. It is 52 mins in duration, and contains, amongst other things, actual video footage at the Royal Commission (about 10 witnesses' testimonies are shown in part).
The second is a DVD titled "Impact Erebus Two". It is available from NZALPA and indeed shoule be currently available. It contains interviews and footage of both Gordon Vette and Justice Mahon (GV footage is from both the early 80's and also from about 7 years ago), and the interviews with PM are around 1984. The rest of this DVD contains footage that was originally shown in the "Flight 901: The Erebus Disaster" video.
Hope that's some help to interested people out there.