Westside

Westside is a prequel to Outrageous Fortune, telling the story of Ted and Rita West before the events of that series.

Antonia Prebble, who plays Rita West in this series, had previously played Rita's granddaughter, Loretta West, in Outrageous Fortune.

The first season is set in the 1970s and each episode covers one year, from 1974 to 1979, incorporating real historical events such as Muldoon's election, the 'dawn raids' against irregular immigrants, the 'carless days' and the birth of the punk rock scene in Auckland.

The first episode, set in 1974, depicts the race between John Walker and Rod Dixon in the 1500 metres at the 1974 Commonwealth Games.

The second season is set in 1981 and is set against the backdrop of the Springboks' tour (Springbok Tour) in New Zealand.

NZ On Air approved funding of 4.8 million New Zealand dollars for the initial miniseries in July 2014, followed by increasing amounts for subsequent seasons: 7.6 million for the second, 6.6 million for the third and 6.5 million (plus an additional 1.2 million) for the fourth.

Filming of each season took place in blocks of a few months: the first between October and December 2014, the second between September 2015 and January 2016, the third between October 2016 and February 2017, and the fourth between November 2017 and March 2018.

The official soundtrack, 'Westside: The Original Soundtrack', was released as a digital download on 8 July 2015 and on CD on 10 July 2015, reaching number nineteen on New Zealand's charts.