Abandoned

TV movie Abandoned follows the true story that swept New Zealand in 1989 — the extraordinary survival of four men after a trimaran capsized in the Pacific Ocean's treacherous swirls. The cast includes Peter Feeney, who plays self-assured skipper John Glennie, and Australian Dominic Purcell. This excerpt — the first 12 minutes — sees the men board the Rose-Noëlle for a cruisy trip to Tonga, before struggling to see eye to eye after a freak wave turns their world upside down for 119 days. Their story of survival was bought to life on screen by director John Laing (Beyond Reasonable Doubt) and author Stephanie Johnson.

The physical aspects were extreme. We were in water — sometimes we had to lie in it for hours, other times completely submerged in it. We were on an upturned boat in relatively high seas for weeks, 10 hours a day.

– Actor Greg Johnson on the making of Abandoned, Stuff website, 23 August 2015

Key Cast & Crew

Greg Johnson

As: Phil

Dominic Purcell

As: Jim

Owen Black

As: Rick

Stephanie Johnson

Writer

Peter Feeney

As: John Glennie

John Laing

Director