Raetihi stars on Mars

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 431, 7 April 1992, Page 1

Raetihi stars on Mars

Raetihi and other parts of the district went to Mars last week. South Pacific Pictures were in the area, using locations in the main street of Raetihi for sets for filming an episode of the Ray Bradbury Theatre science fiction television series. The Raetihi locations, plus various others in Ohakune, Pipiriki and on the Tukino Ski Field road, provided the backdrops for the episode, called "Silent Towns", based on one of Ray Bradbury's short stories. The story is about a man, living on Mars, who finds everyone else has been evacuated back to Earth. He spends his time searching for anyone else who might have been left behind. He finally finds someone, but she is not what he expects.... "She's a little bit much for him..." said film company representative Janine Dickens. To find out more, you may have to go to Canada or the USA, as South Pacific Pictures is producing the episode for a Canadian- American cable network and New Zealand television hasn't as yet shown any interest in buying the series. Apart from Raetihi, the two stars in the show are John Glover who plays Walter Grip, and Monica Parker who plays Geneviere Selson, plus the corrugated iron car which many residents would have noticed around town. Monica has been seen in "Academy Two", "The Woman in Red" and several TV series, while John has appeared in "Gremlins Two", "Scrooged" and also in TV series. The car was not built for the episode, but was created by New Zealand sculptor Geoff Thompson. Jannine Dickens of South Pacific Pictures said people in the area had generally been cooperative towards the film crew. She said as the story called for no other people around, they had to ask people to be quiet while filming was in progress. She said considering how disruptive the filming had been for some people, there were very few people who objected to the filming. She said the film crew enjoyed their time in the area, especially the two foreign actors.