Love Patrol

[1] Produced by Wan Smolbag Theatre with financial assistance from AusAID, NZAID and the Asian Development Bank, it is a soap opera with a serious message, intended primarily to educate viewers on the topic of AIDS.

It stars Noel Aru, James Langdale, Lucy Seresere, Annette Charlie, Bob Homu, Yvette Vatu, Elsie Apia, Morinda Tari, Danny Marcel, Titus Taripu, Florence Vira, Albert Tommy, Betio Albert, Charleon Falau and Gloria Lango.

[8] The first season premiered on television in Vanuatu and in Fiji starting in April 2007, and contained ten episodes, focused on Elizabeth, one of the main characters.

[10] Subsequently, season 1 was translated into French by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, and released on DVD under the title L'Amour sous haute surveillance.

[citation needed] Season 5 began to air in October 2012, with a focus on "socially transmitted infections such as HIV, crime, gender inequality, family breakdowns violence, politics and also on the effects on the entry of guns into the country".

[17] In August 2008, 9,000 copies of a resource guidebook for the series' first season were printed and distributed in schools in several Pacific countries.

According to the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, "a random street poll showed that over 90% of people [in Port Vila, the capital] were watching every episode (even the repeats)".

It reported one of the series' leading actresses, Annette Vira, as stating: "People are far more at ease talking about HIV and AIDS now that it’s discussed openly on television and they’re also getting the messages about prevention, harm reduction and testing for infection".

[24] Jane Clifton, for The Dominion Post, wrote the following review while the second season was being aired on Māori TV in New Zealand: "Considering this is Vanuatu's first television production, it's outstanding, and it's such a different experience to be watching something that you know is aimed squarely at social engineering, as well as ratings".

She added: "The genius of using a serial rather than one-off programme is that users get engrossed in the characters, and see them almost as real and real-time figures, so the social messages wound into the stories are easily assimilated.