A quiet Auckland suburb is buzzing with film crews shooting scenes for the five-part series.
Filing has begun for the drama series about famous Wellington lawyer Mike Bungay QC, a report from Stuff Entertainment reveals.
Last May, NZ on Air provided $3.9m to fund the five-part series titled Dear Murderer, based on the biography of the same title.
According to Stuff, film crews are currently busy filming scenes for the TV One series in an Auckland suburb.
Dear Murderer will cover Bungay’s life from 1960 to 1990. Filming on Sunday, according to the publication, was for the decade between 1960 and 1970.
Producers of the series have asked residents to not park modern vehicles on the side of the road for the duration of the shoots.
The producers, Screentime New Zealand, said in May that “the series will have you roaring with laughter one minute and weeping the next.”
“It will not just be a ‘crime and trial’ piece but, rather, an intimate, personal encounter with one of New Zealand’s great and enduring characters.”
Bungay, who died in 1993 at 58, is perhaps most famous for his flamboyance and for defending suspected Soviet agent William Ball Sutch.
He was born in London, came to New Zealand in 1961 and took silk in 1986. Over his career, he appeared in more than 100 murder trials.
“Audiences will delight in the Dear Murderer story about one of the most flamboyant and outrageous men in New Zealand legal history,” said NZ On Air’s Jane Wrightson in May.
“Stories such as this provide a creative new way to view historical events in New Zealand. We are also thrilled to have a successful science-fiction series for a family audience, adding to the diversity of funded drama content,” added the CEO.
