The Making of The Governor

When i joined TVNZ in the props department i thought work there would just be a succession of working on Close to Home episodes, but then came along The Governor. It was decided that i would work on Special Effects (as i had had some work in this area in theatre) with Bob Duggan in transport department. Then began the big adventure of working on a large period drama (which would change my life forever). It was a fantastic year of working on the production. So many talented people. It is a pity seeing the faces in the doco that so many have died.

Thankful this production was captured

Hi. I worked on The Governor series in episodes,1,2,3,5 and6 as National Film Unit Grip.I also acted in three parts, the camp fire scene in Australia,
in army uniform strolling with lady and pacing to and fro in front of Maoris in the treaty signing tent.and I shot the long shot of the flagpole being chopped down as Kel Fowler could not be in two places at once. It was an extremely interesting job to work on and I thoroughly enjoyed it,as well as my general Grip duties.

I had not seen this documentary for at least 30 years. My only copy was damaged, rendered unplayable. As the director/producer of the 'Making of the Governor' documentary, it brought back wonderful memories of both cast and crew members who sweated and slaved to pull The Governor' series together under great restriction of budget and the subversive political antics from the then Muldoon government. After the series was made, I purchased all the film sets and located them to Staglands Wildlife Park (Upper Hutt area) to form the village of 'Greyford' where amazingly it still stands 36 years later.

great to see some behind the scenes material!