Orange Roughies
| Orange Roughies | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre |
Action Crime Thriller |
| Format | Serial drama |
| Created by |
Rod Johns & Scott McJorrow |
| Starring |
Nicholas Coghlan Zoe Naylor Mark Ruka Caroline Craig Stephen Hall Nick Kemplen |
| Country of origin | New Zealand |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 19 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Screenworks |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | TV ONE |
| Original run | May 25, 2006 – February 11, 2008 |
Orange Roughies is the name of a New Zealand drama television show created by Auckland-based film company Screenworks, the first season of which screened on TV ONE from May to July 2006. The second season has recently finished filming and is, according to TVNZ, due to screen sometime between October 2006 and January 2007. The first and second seasons were originally due to screen with no gap between the two, but due to poor ratings the programme was taken off air.
An orange roughy, Hoplostethus atlanticus. is a type of fish.
About the show
The show centres around four main characters who are members of an elite New Zealand taskforce in Auckland, intended to be a combination of police and customs officers. Despite being an elite force, they are, as their commander Ron Maddock (Stephen Hall) remind them, under-funded, under-resourced and under the hammer.
Because of this, the Roughies (as they are called) have to make sure that they perform exceptionally well to avoid being canned, as they are, after all, an experiment. Their members are: Detective Sergeant Danny Wilder (Nicholas Coghlan), Senior Customs Officer Jane Durant (Zoe Naylor), Detective Constable Zach Wiki (Mark Ruka) and Noel Bullerton (Nick Kemplen).
The first episode deals with child trafficking from China, and subsequently Jane decides to adopt one of the trafficked children, Tao Li. Their relationship kicks off and they are united. However, several episodes later, Tao is taken back to China, leaving Jane once again childless. There is also a gradual romance which develops between Danny and Jane, culminating in a kiss discovered by Maddock. Each episode contains a story of some form of significant police or customs enquiry carried out by the taskforce, often of a high-risk nature. The season finishes with Jane being taken hostage by a homosexual Greek criminal, and being shot in the stomach. It is still unsure as to whether she survived. Danny manages to track him down in Melbourne and kills him.
Cast
Primary
- Nicholas Coghlan plays Danny Wilder;
- Zoe Naylor plays Jane Durrant;
- Mark Ruka plays Zack Wiki;
- Stephen Hall plays Ron Maddock;
- Nick Kemplen plays Noel Bullerton;
Secondary
- Nicole Whippy plays Donna Wiki; Zack's wife and a nurse at the local hospital.
- Roy Snow plays Denis Fielding; Jane's flatmate
- Olivia James-Baird plays Sophie Wilder; Danny's daughter
- Sean Duffy plays Paul Grayson
- Blair Strang plays D.S. Sean Parkes;
- Kimberley Ooi plays Tao Li;
- Peter Daube plays David Chambers;
- Stephen Butterworth plays George "Sugarplum" Economou;
- Andrew Robertt plays Leo Sullivan;
Music
The soundtrack for Orange Roughies was composed mostly by Don McGlashan, the same person who did Screenworks' other major television series, Street Legal. This included most of the background music in the actual show as well as that of the end credits. However, the opening credits are accompanied by the song Long White Cross from Auckland band Pluto.
Scene locations
Orange Roughies was shot in the Auckland CBD. Some of the areas filmed include AUT University, the Viaduct Harbour, Britomart train station and city apartments.
Actual locations are:
1. Police Station with firearm storage - AUT University Design Building, Studio Entrance.
2. Airport arrival hall - AUT University Admin Building (WA) foyer. Conference Center.
3. Airport Customs office - AUT University Admin Building (WA) Security control room.
4. Scene taken in apartments - Possibly Customs Street, which is close to PWC Tower.
5. Cutaway scene at bus station - Britomart Terminus in Auckland Downtown.
6. Party on boat - City Viaduct close to ferry terminal.
External links