Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Polly Fryer: Producer of new Polkinghorne documentary on the work behind the project

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Polly Fryer: Producer of new Polkinghorne documentary on the work behind the project · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So last night the new documentary on the poking Horn
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: trial was released and you can take a listen right now.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: For thirty odd years I have been watching wealthy then
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: control women, but he usually doesn't end in dead. Evidence
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: is missing.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: But it didn't much sease.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: I was thinking his story gets changing.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Oco, it's just snowballing into this incredible spectacle that couldn't
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: look away from all right. Yes. The documentary received two
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: hundred and twenty eight grand from funding from New Zealand
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: On air. It follows the eight week trial of Philip Pokinghorn,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: who was accused of killing his wife, Pauline Hannah back
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one at Easter two. So this is
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: what third anniversary, fourth anniversary. A jury ultimately found Pokinghorn
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: not guilty. He walked out of the Court of Free Man,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: telling a scrum of reporters to let Pauline rest in peace.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: But that's not happening, is it? Because we've got this
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: new documentary and Polly Fryer is the producer of it
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: and joins us this morning, Good morning to.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Your Polly, good morning, how are you great?
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: It's a good watch. I have to say, why make it?
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: I think it's important to make these stories so that
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: people can hear particularly from two of the key witnesses
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: and participants in the case that we didn't hear form
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: in court. That's Madison Ashton and doctor Philip Pulkinghorn himself,
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: so an opportunity to find out more from their perspective,
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: and that obviously wasn't presented through the judicial process.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: I've found it fascinating right from the get go, because
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: I saw the rope, and I saw the house, and
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: I saw the bed, and I got a fuller picture
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: of the story. Yeah.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: Well, that's often the way that documentaries can do that
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: because we don't have the same you know, we're obviously
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: not there to prove his guilt or his innocence, So
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: we have the ability to be able to show things
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: in much more detail and with much more commentary from
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: more of the players, and give more detail to a
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: lot of elements of the case.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Now I feel poking Horn later in the series. I've
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: not got to that point yet. I've only seen the
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: first one. But later and this is making the headlines.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: He blamed the COVID vaccine for Pauline's death. Is anyone
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: buying that?
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: I think it's clear to say that neither the defense
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: nor the prosecution mentioned or used the COVID vaccine theory
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: during the court case. So we can't comment any further
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: on it. But that's all that we know that it
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: was never raised as part of the trial.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Okay, he hasn't been found innocent, he was found not guilty.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: That's the way the law works. However, you are in
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: a way relitigating it. Did you have concerns around the
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: defamation while making this story?
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: I think that it's quite a balanced documentary, and obviously
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: there's a lot of Polkinghorn in there himself talking to
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: us and commenting on the situation. We did ask Ron
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Mansfield to participate and doctor Polkinghorn again after the initial interview,
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: but both declined, as did dozens of other acquaintances and
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: former colleagues of Horns who we approached. But I don't
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: think that really we're trying to re litigate it. I
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: think what we're trying to do is give more detail
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: on a fascinating subject in a case that is sort
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: of captured the nation and probably very interesting to others
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: abroad as well.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: Yes, and you've got overseas backing as well. I mean,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: what is it? Sky News UK and Warner Brothers Discovery,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: So is this going to play worldwide?
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Nine in Australia have acquired the series, have Sky UK
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: and then we have a representation for rest of world,
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: so we'll see how that goes following the New Zealand release.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: It's fascinating because the interview with Pokinghorn happened nineteen months
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: before the trial, so obviously he's wanting to talk to
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: you and to convince you of his innocence. He has
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: a quote saying when you and Julia Hartley Moore approached him,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: you said you'll be able to help him without any advice.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: He trusted you both and what they said to me.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: But now he's come out and described his own documentary
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: series as tad BOYD clickbait and he claims he was misled.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: What do you say to that.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Mark McNeil, the other executi producer myself weren't on board
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: the project when Julia and Chris Cook did the interview
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: with Polkinghorn. Chris Cook has not been involved in the
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: documentary since the interview was held. Julia is an executive
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: producer on the series. I think it's been it's clear
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: even from the text messages in the stuff article that
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: we agreed to not air the documentary until after the trial,
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: so we were never going to be any part of
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: a judicial process that was questioning his guilt or not.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: But is it tabloid clickbait? As he sees, after all,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: it is a prilliant insight into a world of remi
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: weerra and hookers and murder and all sorts. I know,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: so alleged murder.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: That was his life. We're only telling his life as
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: he tells us in those in his life, including Madison
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Ashton tell it. I don't think it's clickbait for that.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: I think it's probably you know, portraying a side of
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: life that maybe we don't see that often. And as
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Philip himself says, he's not on trial for morality issues
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: and we're not trialing for morality issues either. We're really
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: saying what his life was like and what Pauline's life
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: was like in the time leading up to her passing.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Well, good job, it's a good watch, and I thank
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: you so much for your time today. That is Polly Fryer,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: producer of the new Poking Horn documentary. You can see
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: it on three now. You can see it streaming, so
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: you can watch it whenever you like. And as I say,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: it's got funding from Sky UK and the Nine network,
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: support from New Zealand on Air and the government's Screen
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: Production Grant.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: For more from early edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: to news Talks it be from five am weekdays, or
• 5:39
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