Under the Mountain - Full Series

Two children. Red hair. Get the car.

– Mr Wilberforce (Bill Johnson) spots the twins, in episode one

One morning on my way to work I passed Mount Eden, brooding, half-seen in a mist, and I thought: I wonder what is living under there.

– Maurice Gee, on how his 1979 novel Under the Mountain was born, in his backgrounder

This is freaky.

– Ricky (Bill Ewens) after encountering a strange creature in the sea, in episode three

Working within a total design budget of less than $100,000 they had to create effects such as beams of light shooting out of people, tunnels of long slimy mud, human figures which dissolve into slug-like monsters, and the eruption of Mt Eden and Rangitoto Islands.

– An NZ Herald writer on the show's design and special effects team, date unknown

It's for underneath. Whoever made this wanted to keep people out, not in.

– Theo (Lance Warren), sighting creatures heading towards the Wilberforce house, in episode four

We call them the people of the mud — who conquer and multiply.

– Mr Jones (Roy Leywood) describes the enemy, in episode five

Twins — ready yourselves. You must be very brave.

– Mr Jones (Roy Leywood), at the end of episode one

It is possibly the most ambitous undertaking in terms of design and technique attempted by New Zealand Television.

– An NZ Herald writer on the show's design and special effects team

We did some tests this week with a variety of disgusting materials, including gelatine, liver, various plastics and so forth. 

– Producer Tom Finlayson describes progress on the show, as quoted in Rachel Barrowman's 2015 book Maurice Gee: Life and Work, page 275

Crocodiles don't want to turn the world into mud.

– Theo (Lance Warren) compares the aliens to other creatures, in episode six

[The show] had been made with a weekday 7pm time slot and ten to twelve-year-old audience in mind. TVNZ screened it on Sunday at 6pm, when younger children were likely to be watching and parents less able to. Finlayson was 'dismayed and bitter'...

– Author Rachel Barrowman on producer Tom Finlayson's reaction to the show's final time slot, in 2015 book Maurice Gee: Life and Work, page 276

What were those things?

– Theo (Lance Warren), after sighting creatures heading towards the water near the Wilberforce house, in episode four

They auditioned 1200 Auckland schoolchildren to find their Rachel and Theo — both natural redheads. 

– Author Rachel Barrowman on the casting of lead actors Kirsty Wilkinson and Lance Warren, in her 2015 book Maurice Gee: Life and Work, page 276

Without computer graphics, the Wilberforces (headed by the great Bill Johnson) had to 'melt' their faces with some glycerine goop threaded through plastic tubes in their hair. They looked a bizarre sight between takes.

– Writer Ken Catran on the show's special effects, in his backgrounder

Scripting Under the Mountain represented quite a challenge . . . But Maurice's book had a strong plot structure and was very visual - ideal for screen adaptation. We worked it through with very little change and produced seven very tightly scripted episodes

– Writer Ken Catran on adapting the story for screen, in his backgrounder