TVNZ orders shipwreck drama

New Zealand pubcaster TVNZ has commissioned a two-part drama based on the survival story of four men whose yacht capsized on its way to Tonga in 1989.

Dominic Purcell

After an exhaustive search, Glennie and three others were presumed dead. However, the four men managed to drift on the upturned yacht for 119 days before being cast ashore on the coast of Great Barrier Island.

Auckland-based Making Movies is handling the production, which was funded by New Zealand On Air. The drama is due to air later this year, starring Prison Break’s Dominic Purcell.

Tina McLaren, TVNZ’s commissioner of drama, said: “It is a captivating story of the struggle for survival, not only through the devastation of the shipwreck, but the scepticism and hostility that surrounded the crew’s astonishing voyage back from the dead.”