A limited drama series based on a high-profile eight-week murder trial in Auckland is in the works at South Pacific Pictures and U.K.-based Joejack Entertainment and Sinner Films.

"The Mysterious Death of Pauline Hanna" centres around the trial of Philip Polkinghorne, who was found not guilty of murdering his wife, Pauline Hanna, in 2021.

The series’ show runners are David Murdoch and Caleb Ranson, with John Deery confirmed as series director. Producers are Kelly Martin, David Murdoch and John Deery.

“Pauline Hanna’s life has been laid bare for the world to judge. In developing a drama series around these events, we want to understand why things ended the way they did for this intelligent, driven woman – and why Pauline’s seemingly glamourous life unravelled in a haze of escorts, drugs, and alcohol ultimately leading - in one way, or another –to her tragic death,” said Kelly Martin, South Pacific Pictures CEO.

“This goes beyond the salacious headlines of meth and sex workers – it’s a story about the cost of addiction and the pressures facing Pauline Hanna – pressures which ended in a tragedy that became a national obsession,” she said.

An unnamed New Zealand television network is supporting that project development. The series is yet to be cast.