Calder at large: Six of Calder's best

From the upper echelons of British society with Baron Archer to sacked newsreaders and cricketers chased by scandal, columnist PETER CALDER has had an interesting year. Today he follows up on the creme de la creme.

Baron Archer – author and alleged perjurer


Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare of Mark in the County of Somerset must be hoping his life will imitate his art. In his West End play, The Accused, he takes the title role as a cardiologist charged with poisoning his wife. Audiences, asked to deliver a verdict, keep acquitting him even when he rewrites the ending to provoke a different response. Now the poorly attended play is set to close early. But the 60-year-old former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party still faces charges of perjury after allegedly asking a friend to lie in a libel case. Interviewed here on an author tour, he declined to answer questions about anything other than his collection of rather juvenile short stories. He may find it harder to keep silent when he enters the dock in March. - (AUGUST)

Rajen Prasad – Race Relations Conciliator


The conciliator's term ends in February - and all the signs are that the office will be disestablished too, absorbed into the Human Rights Commission. Prasad himself, a calm voice of reason during a difficult five years, regrets that he has "failed to capture the imaginations of politicians in the broad race relations challenges of New Zealand" - though he makes the point that, in the year of the Waitara shooting and the controversy around the Closing the Gaps policy, his office has been effectively starved of funds (its $1.3 million budget has not increased since 1993). "People are saying it's a time when we need a strong office. Race relations remains one of the most critical areas of our social development, and we're not really doing enough." - (MAY)

Ngareta Timutimu – school-less principal


St Stephen's School's former principal says she still feels shellshocked by the decision to close the Bombay school, which was announced two days before the event. "I don't believe two years was long enough," she said. "We had the school on the turn. But they have rescued the school from permanent closure and I'm grateful for that." A new state-funded Maori boys' school is likely to open on the site at the beginning of 2002. But she bears no grudge against Education Minister Trevor Mallard, who pulled the plug. "Many of our whanau feel quite betrayed by the church. I don't think it had the capability to run the school. Hopefully they will sort out something that safeguards the interests of all." - (MARCH)

Roger McClay – child advocate


The Commissioner for Children winces almost audibly at the certain knowledge that "at Christmas there are some children who are in for a pretty rough time." The case of Wairarapa toddler Hinewaoriki Karaitiana-Matiaha, also known as Lillybing, proves that the safety of our children remains rather precarious as the year draws to a close but Mr McClay is encouraged by constant messages thanking his office for "speaking so loudly for our children." "We are a society which is accepting of violence, but, on the other hand, we have demonstrated that we can be very caring as well." He hopes that next year, "having acknowledged the target, we will focus much more on the reasons for our violence - the big-picture issues and what we can do about it." - (AUGUST)

Shane Warne – sultan of spin


The leg spinner with the sparkling eyes and frosted hair never stood much of a chance of unseating captain Steve Waugh with the Australians on a 13-test winning streak. But he lost the vice-captaincy to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist after a long series of off-the-field indiscretions, which included leaving lewd propositions on an English woman's voicemail during his time with county Hampshire. Then he broke a finger in October and has sat out the test series with two metal pins inserted in the digit which once struck fear into the hearts of batsmen. Maybe Warne isn't worn out - but Stuart MacGill and the off-spinner Colin Miller (10 wickets in the third test) may be hard to dislodge. - (MARCH)