Gloriavale Is Back On TV Tonight: Here's What To Expect

Married couple Ivars Berzins and Amanda Evans are the brains behind the first two Gloriavale documentaries. 

The first two became top-rating documentaries, following the residents of Gloriavale, a controversial South Island Christian community that lives segregated from the outside world.

Based near the South Island's idyllic Lake Haupiri, the Christian community's 500-odd residents live their lives unlike the rest of us.

There is little contact with the outside world, access to media and the internet is heavily restricted, limits are placed on clothing and diets, marriages are arranged informally, and if anyone decide to leave, they are ex-communicated.

Tonight, we will see a third documentary air on TV2, which follows the life of Dove Love, a 22-year-old kitchen manager who is preparing for her upcoming wedding to 17-year-old apprentice builder Watchful Stedfast.

Called A Woman's Place, it is entirely based around how the women live in the community.

Of eight questions put to Love, nearly every response referenced God and her faith, showing just how big a presence religion has in the compound.

It means tight restrictions are placed on relationships: contraception is banned, potential partners are vetted along bloodlines, and any time Love spends with Stedfast before their wedding is chaperoned by elders. The first time they kiss, or share a bed together, is during their wedding celebrations.

Evans and Berzins also use their documentary to capture another side to Gloriavale's residents.

It's one that's a little more relaxed, showing why viewers -- and Evans -- have such conflicted views about their lifestyle.

Read the full story on tonight's documentary at nzherald.co.nz

What: Gloriavale: A Woman's Place
Where and when: Screening on Wednesday on TV2 at 8.30pm
Also: Previous instalments A World Apart and Life and Death available via www.tvnz.co.nz/ondemand