Comedy drama about a group of teenagers living in small-town New Zealand in 1963 that play in a rock'n'roll band.
The Wayward Wind (26/07/1987)
It's nix to the olds on New Year's Eve. Look out Roseville, here come Harvey and the Hi-Tones.
Diane Wright - Ruth Bijl
Harvey Springer - Stephen Judd
Mandy Stapleton - Louise Graham
Joseph Ryan - Iain Rea
Spiro Papadopoulous - Stanley Findlay
Chris Watts - Murray Keane
Lynette McKnight - Felicity Samuel
Dean Wright - D'arcy Waldegrave
Hamish Stapleton - Ross Girven
Mick Ryan - Mark Wright
Dutch Twins - Christianne Phillips, Marianne Govaerts
Clive Springer - Ian Watkin
Eric Stapleton - Lewis Rowe
Mrs Mac - Ann Pacey
Doug Wright - Tony Burton
Writers - Simon O'connor, Judith Fyfe
Producers - Ruth Franks, Ginette Mcdonald
Director - John Whitwell
Sixties setting
Press, 25 July 1987
Television New Zealand’s new comedy-drama series gets under way on Two tomorrow at 7.35 p.m. The series takes its name from a pop song of the era in which it is set — the pre-Beatles early 60s, when the twist craze was at Its height. Music plays a large part in “Peppermint Twist,” and some of New Zealand’s top musicians, under the direction of Terry Gray, have recorded about 70 versions of 60s pop songs. An album containing 20 of them is soon to be released.
The producer, Ginette McDonald, describes “Peppermint Twist” as “pure entertainment.” It centres on the activities of a group of teenagers growing up in a small New Zealand town not far from a big city. The issues
“Peppermint Twist” deals with are not the politics of the day or the international crisis but the really important things like what colour lipstick is “in,” what songs are on the charts, what movies are on in town, and most importantly, what the opposite sex is up to. As “Peppermint Twist” is largely life in 1963 as seen through the eyes of teenagers the series introduces a host of young new faces in the lead roles.
A key feature of "Peppermint Twist” is the band, the Hi-Tones, who model themselves on Cliff Richard’s former backing group, The Shadows, who in the early 60s were making their mark in their own right with a string of instrumental hits. They also pioneered a style of synchronised stage movements which to 1980 s eyes look comic but in those days were definitely "in” and to be mimicked along with everything else.
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