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]
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.