KEY POINTS:
British comedian Martin Clunes is starring in a television movie being filmed in Auckland.
The film is about a British museum curator, a small Maori community and the return of a taonga.
Production of The Man Who Lost His Head began on January 29, and is scheduled to finish early March.
Clunes plays straightlaced Ian Bennet, who comes to a small coastal town to return a carved head - a mission to which he is initially opposed.
But once he reaches the town, he ends up teaching in the school, becoming the bus driver, learning the area's myths and falling in love with a local woman.
Clunes, who has starred in the television series Doc Martin, William and Mary and Men Behaving Badly, said he was enjoying the production.
"New Zealand is a fantastic country, with wonderful scenery," he said.
"I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to work here."
The film is being shot in and around Auckland and co-stars Shortland Street star Nicola Kawana, Te Paki Cherington (No 2), Calvin Tuteao (Shortland Street, Crooked Earth) and John Leigh (Outrageous Fortune).
It is a joint production between South Pacific Pictures - maker of Whale Rider, Sione's Wedding and Outrageous Fortune - and British company Greenlit Rights.
The film will screen on TV One this year, and on ITV in England.
- NZPA
