It's Academic (New Zealand game show)

It's Academic was a general knowledge quiz show for high school students in New Zealand, broadcast by TVNZ from 1981 until 1988.^[1] It's Academic was hosted by Lockwood Smith (who later became a member of the New Zealand Parliament, eventually serving as its speaker) and, later, John Hayden. The show was produced by Kevan Moore & Associates, an independent production house led by producer/director and ex-TV2 programming chief Kevan Moore,^[1][2] with Patrick Macaskill as adjudicator.^[1]

It's Academic title

Quizmaster Lockwood Smith

School teams of three pupils competed for digital watches, handheld calculators and sets of the Encyclopædia Britannica for their school.^[1] The quiz followed the format of its long-running American counterpart.^[1] The theme tune, 'Piano Parchment', was written as library music in 1968 by Johnny Pearson^[3] and was well known in New Zealand living rooms about the same time as the theme for BBC drama series All Creatures Great and Small.

List of winning schools

• 1981: Onslow College, Wellington^[4]
• 1985: Takapuna Grammar School, Team-Sarah Ell, Erica Heppleston, Suzanne Nola
• 1988: Takapuna Grammar School, Team- Simon North, Lyall McMillan, Janine Pritchard

External links

• It's Academic 1993 regional final on NZ On Screen website.