Richard, played by Gareth Williams, is the eldest of the Smith siblings.
There was never any doubt that he would eventually run the family business, Smith's Emporium. He can be a little pompous and takes himself seriously, craving respect and his father's validation. He is ambitious and wants to rise above his class. His marriage brought him a house and two children and recently his wife has been unwell.
Richard is astute and is quick to realise that the war brings with it commercial and personal possibilities.
Get Gareth's take on Richard Smith;
"Richard is the eldest brother, he's in charge of running Smith's Emporium and he's very ambitious. So when opportunity comes knocking he relishes this time during the War where everything was turning on its head and a lot of people were experiencing certain ways of living for the first time. He's an opportunist so if there's money to be made for the good of the family, then he'd do it. I'm a massive 2nd World War buff. I've been to Europe on a couple of really intensive 2nd World War tours and I'm going to dive shipwrecks in the Solomon Islands. I find that whole period from the end of the 1st World War right through to the end of World War II fascinating politically. The 1st World War was just a disgusting shambles of a war - the reasons for having the war in the first place were just ridiculous. It was really just a bunch of skirmishes that got out of hand and it was such a silly war for New Zealand to have to be involved in."
