Children of Fire Mountain

1 9 7 9 (New Zealand)
13 x 25 minute episodes

Tom (Paul Airey) and his friends – Davie (Ian Narev), Hema (Ross Duzevich) and Kiri (Melissa-Aroha Baker) – befriend English millionaire Sir Charles Pemberton (Terence Cooper) and his granddaughter Sarah Jane (Rachel Weston).

Accompanied by her governess, the prim Miss Proctor (Maggie Maxwell), Sarah Jane does not make a good impression on most of the local kids – both “pakeha” and Maori. Apart from being overdressed and out of place, she is critical of the village and a bit of a show-off in school.

The kids have to try and stop Sir Charles from building a hotel and spa on sacred Maori land located beneath the volcanic Fire Mountain, but can they do it in time, and what is the local shady character Doomy Dwyer (Martyn Sanderson) up to?

There are some excellent moments of suspense, such as when a ghostly Maori figure stops Sir Charles Pemberton’s train and when the children go exploring at night while a young scientist is watching the rising pressure and temperature levels in the local geyser and becoming concerned.

Set in the year 1900, Children of Fire Mountain was scripted by Roger Simpson.

Tom
Paul Airey
Sarah Jane
Rachel Weston
Davie
Ian Narev
Hema
Ross Duzevich
Kiri
Melissa-Aroha Baker
Sir Charles Pemberton
Terence Cooper
James Gregory
Peter Vere-Jones
Elizabeth Gregory
Marion Parry
Gilfillan
Waric Slyfield
Emily Gregory
Kerri Anne Johnson
Doomy Dwyer
Martyn Sanderson
Mabel Dwyer
Helen Dorward
Sid
Mark Hadlow
Te Pourinui
Tamahina Tinirau
Christopher Bain
John Givins
Miss Proctor
Maggie Maxwell
Guide Anna
Esther Davis

Episodes

Tom | Miss Prim | Double Trouble | The Taniwha | Initiation | Confrontation | Dark Secrets | Black Magic | The Ghost of Doomy Dwyer | Heroes | Mafeking | Evacuation | Farewell