In what might be the best New Zealand drama ever produced (sorry, Top of the Lake), Robyn Malcolm (Upper Middle Bogan) plays a character not often seen on screen: a ballsy middle-aged woman who is brilliant and infuriating.
Malcolm – who co-created the series with NZ screenwriter Dianne Taylor – plays high-school biology teacher Penny Wilding. The series opens with her dealing with a student caught watching pornography on his phone. Rather than merely castigating him, she tells a classroom full of boys that watching too much porn could lead to disappointment and feelings of inadequacy. “You should be thanking me for saving your sex lives,” she tells them.
