No cast have been announced for the show, The Mysterious Death of Pauline Hanna, but SPP are in talks with a major NZ writer and a local tv network has backed the project. Photo: Melanie Earley
A drama series centred around the recent high profile murder trial in which Philip Polkinghorne was found not guilty or murdering his wife Pauline Hanna, is in the works.
No cast have been announced for the show, The Mysterious Death of Pauline Hanna, but South Pacific Pictures said they are in talks with a major New Zealand writer to come on board and a local television network was supporting the project.
No doubt, there were those who believed justice did not do right by Hanna. Her 2021 death was framed as suicide by defence attorneys representing her husband, the eye surgeon Dr Polkinghorne, who was accused of her murder.
Philip Polkinghorne arrives at the Auckland High Court for the first day of his trial for the murder of his wife Pauline Hanna New Zealand Herald photograph by Michael Craig 29 July 2024 Photo: NZME/Michael Craig
The trial, which lasted eight weeks, brought wave after wave of salacious detail; that Polkinghorne had a methamphetamine habit, hired a sex worker and made sex tapes. One thing is for certain: Hanna was found dead at their home in a moneyed Auckland suburb.
A jury ultimately found Polkinghorne not guilty. He walked out of court a free man, telling a scrum of waiting reporters to "let Pauline rest in peace". But his trial in the court of public opinion will continue, fuelled by a planned coronial inquest.
Days after the trial ended, veteran documentary maker Mark McNeill confirmed to RNZ that he was creating a three-episode documentary series on the trial for ThreeNow and Warner Bros, Discovery.
"The series starts with the charges being laid and follows the case through court to the concluding verdict," he wrote in a text message to RNZ.
He declined to comment further on who he had secured as subjects, or the project's timeline.
South Pacific Picutres announced on Thursday it was working with UK based joejack Entertainment and Sinner Films on the series, which will be directed by John Deery.
In announcing the project, Deery said: "Did Philip Polkinghorne murder his wife in order to take her money and run off with another woman? Why did Pauline Hanna stay with him when their marriage was clearly not working? Does being a 'bad person' in the eyes of the public and media automatically mean you're a killer? Or was it - as the Defence claimed - a tragic cry for help by Pauline, a suicide attempt that went tragically wrong?
"The drama will be told through the eyes of all the victims and, as the jury did, the audience will make up its own mind,"