Nicholas says the rapes continued through her teenage years, and when she finally told a teacher and her mother approached the officer in question, he managed to convince her that Nicholas was lying.
Years later, while flatting, Nicholas says she began to get regular visits from police officers Clint Rickards, Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum, and says she was pack-raped by the three at a house in Rotorua.
The trio claimed throughout the trials that the sex was consensual. All three were acquitted of the charges. Be warned that the pack-rape scenes are quite graphic.
Consent concentrates on Nicholas' relationship with Rotorua CIB boss John Dewar, who she approached with her initial complaint in 1993. Dewar befriended Nicholas and pretended to help her, but was convicted in 2007 of four charges of attempting to obstruct or defeat the course of justice because he covered up her allegations.
It also covers the involvement of Dominion Post journalist Phil Kitchin who broke the story in 2004. Kitchin's work led to a full police investigation and a Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct
Director Robert Sarkies does a great job of evoking the time period, and Michelle Blundell, who plays Nicholas in later life, portrays her steely resilience and determination to achieve justice with convincing authenticity. Also excellent is Thomasin McKenzie-Harcourt, daughter of Miranda Harcourt, who plays the younger Nicholas.
What also shines through is that, despite moments of absolute despair and doubt, Nicholas' husband Ross was a rock and stood by her through every awful moment. Her family was also incredibly supportive.
These days, Nicholas works for Rape Prevention Education as a survivor advocate. In 2007 she was named the Herald's New Zealander of the Year because of the courage she showed throughout the trials.
Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story
Where: TV One
When: Sunday, 8.30pm
What: Behind the headlines
Comedy pick: Upper Middle Bogan
Robyn Malcolm swaps her real estate clobber for her Outrageous Fortune get-up this week as Agent Anna makes way for new Aussie comedy Upper Middle Bogan. Malcolm and Kath and Kim's Glenn Robbins play Julie and Wayne Wheeler, a couple of fair-dinkum westies from the outer suburbs of Melbourne. When Dr Bess Denyar (Annie Maynard), a posh east Melbourne doctor, takes her mother Margaret to hospital after she falls ill, she discovers they don't share the same blood type. Margaret eventually confesses Bess was adopted and that Julie and Wayne are her birth parents. In tonight's episode, Bess, her husband Danny and private-schooled twins Edwina and Oliver meet the Wheelers at a neutral barbecue area, and much hilarious culture-clashing ensues as Bess realises that they and her three half-siblings are a bunch of drag-racing bogans. Keep an eye out for the acerbic Amber Wheeler, played by Michala Banas - she has the show's most brutal lines.
Upper Middle Bogan
When: Tonight, 8.30pm
Where: TV One
What: Cheryl 2.0
Drama pick: INXS: Never Tear Us Apart
They were the biggest band in the world, for a while at least. Michael Hutchence's death has come to overshadow INXS' global achievements but Never Tear Us Apart is here to remind you just how many there were; the sell-out shows, the platinum-selling records and of course, all those hits. More than you might remember.
As the two-part miniseries crams 30 years of history into three hours of television, don't expect in-depth character development or plot detail.
But it successfully chronicles the band's rocket ride to fame and the excesses of life at the top.
Of course, we all know how it ends - but it's still interesting to see how they got there and remember the hits along the way. Shorty Street fans will have the added thrill of seeing Ido Drent (Daniel Potter) take on a starring role as drummer Jon Farriss. Part two will screen next Thursday at 8.30pm.
INXS: Never Tear Us Apart
Where: TV3
When: Tonight, 8.30pm
What: Sex, drugs, INXS
Documentary pick: Once Were Warriors: Where Are They Now?
It's hard to believe it's been 20 years since one of the most important films in our nation's history screened for the first time. Once Were Warriors ripped open the dark underbelly of New Zealand society, exposing a culture of domestic, sexual and alcohol abuse among Maori, and Kiwis flocked to the cinemas in their hundreds of thousands to see it. It also wowed audiences at festivals and screenings offshore. On Monday, Maori TV screens a documentary directed and narrated by Julian Arahanga, who played oldest son Nig Heke. It charmingly reunites the Heke family for the first time since the film was made and features interviews with Temuera Morrison and Rena Owen (Jake and Beth), the actors who played their five kids, director Lee Tamahori, and Hollywood star Cliff Curtis (Uncle Bully). Maori TV will screen the movie on Sunday at 9.30pm.
* See Saturday's Canvas magazine for an interview with Temuera Morrison, Rena Owen and Julian Arahanga about the film's legacy.
Once Were Warriors: Where Are They Now?
Where: Maori TV
When: Monday, 9:30pm
What: Family reunion
Drama pick: The Knick
Clive Owen teams up with award-winning director Stephen Soderbergh for this new no-holds-barred historical medical drama, The Knick, which is screening here a week behind the United States. Owen plays John Thackery, one of the boundary-pushing doctors at New York City's Knickerbocker Hospital, aka The Knick, in the early 1900s. Thackery, partially based on historical figure Dr William Stewart Halstead, is a brilliant, pioneering surgeon with a difficult, abrasive personality, not helped by his serious cocaine habit. The beautifully filmed show follows both the professional and private lives of the hospital staff and stays true to the medical conditions of the era - there are no antibiotics, no technology and high mortality rates, so be warned that it can be gruesome at times. In tonight's episode we learn immediately about Thackery's many demons as we meet him for the first time at a Manhattan opium den and brothel before he heads off to work.
The Knick
When: Tonight, 8.30pm
Where: SoHo
What: Exploratory surgery
- TimeOut
