Small B.C. town entering the Twilight Zone — the TV show, that is

A village in B.C.'s Interior is stepping into the Twilight Zone next month — a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity — or so the popular TV show goes. 

The U.S. broadcasting company CBS launched a reboot of the iconic show last year and is now planning to film an episode of the last season in Ashcroft, a small town about 100 kilometres west of Kamloops. 

"This is just huge for our community," said Mayor Barbara Roden.

The original Twilight Zone, which ran for five seasons between 1959 and 1964, tells the story of different characters who find themselves in unusual and disturbing scenarios. It became so popular that the phrase "twilight zone" has come to mean a surreal experience. 

And the timing of the film, mid-winter when local businesses who struggle to make ends meet before the tourist season starts off again, couldn't be better for Ashcroft. 

"This is the time of year when a lot of businesses are looking to maybe lay off some staff, cut back their hours and trim their budgets," she told CBC's Shelley Joyce, the host of Daybreak Kamloops.

Not so when a film crew of an estimated 175 people descend on the small town of 1,600 residents. Hotels are booked up, restaurants are full and even the bakery is overwhelmed by the booming business.

"It's a huge boost for the economy,"  Roden said. 

And then there's the excitement in the air — although excited is the "understatement of the year," according to Roden. 

"There's a lot of buzz," she said.

Location scouts arrived in December to see if Ashcroft could fit the bill as a small rural town, she said, and by January set construction had begun.

One of the film sets, a church, is going up about 20 feet from Roden's office. It looks just like an existing church because it's a replica — the plot required it to be located a few blocks down from the original and next to a bank, according to Roden — which has got unknown passersby a bit confused. 

"[People] walk past it and do a bit of a double take," she said. 

 Filming is expected to start Feb. 2.