''House of Hancock'' is an Australian mini-series, part 1 aired on the Nine Network on 8 February 2015 and the 2nd part on 15 February.

Plot

''House of Hancock'' tells the fictionalised story of the Hancock dynasty and the bizarre love triangle that emerged between Lang, his daughter Gina, and his beautiful Filipina housekeeper Rose. Lang and Gina are inseparable, the perfect team, and Gina is confident she will soon inherit the family business. But their relationship is rocked by a series of tumultuous events. First, Lang is furious when Gina marries a man old enough to be her father. Then Lang's beloved wife Hope dies. In an attempt to help her ailing father, Gina employs a new housekeeper to get him back on track, Rose Lacson from the Philippines, not realising this will be a decision that tears their family apart. Lang is instantly smitten with the vivacious Rose, 37 years younger than the ageing iron ore magnate. Is it real love? Or has the housekeeper snagged the richest man in Australia? Lang and Rose quickly marry and what follows is an increasingly bitter public feud lasting two decades: filled with forbidden love, murder accusations, drug charges, illegitimate children, court cases and epic betrayal, all played out in the media, and all for Gina to retain control over the staggering Hancock family fortune.

Production

On 13 February 2013, it was confirmed that a series, titled ''Gina'', consisting of four, one-hour telemovies based on the life of mining magnate,

Gina Rinehart Georgina Hope Rinehart (née Hancock, born 9 February 1954) is an Australian mining magnate and businesswoman. Rinehart is the Executive Chairman of Hancock Prospecting, a privately owned mineral exploration and extraction company founded by ...

was commissioned in a joint venture between the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

, Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder and

Claudia Karvan Claudia Karvan (born 19 May 1972) is an Australian actress, producer and scriptwriter. As a child actor, she first appeared in the film, '' Molly'' (1983) and followed with an adolescent role in ''High Tide'' (1987). She portrayed a teacher in ...

's production company. In November 2013, the Nine Network confirmed that the drama had been cut to half its original size and had a new name, presenting it as a two, one-hour telemovies, titled ''Gina v Rose: The House of Hancock''. On 13 August 2014, it was announced that Mandy McElhinney had won the titular role of Gina Rinehart, with news breaking four days later that

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...

and

Peta Sergeant Peta Sergeant is a Malaysian-born Australian actress best known for her lead role in the Australian television series '' Satisfaction''. She graduated from NIDA. Career Her other television credits include the television series '' All Saints'', ...

had signed on to play

Lang Hancock Langley Frederick George "Lang" Hancock (10 June 1909 27 March 1992) was an Australian iron ore magnate from Western Australia who maintained a high profile in the spheres of business and politics. Famous initially for discovering the world's ...

and Rose Hancock Porteous, respectively. The telemovie is produced by Michael Cordell, Claudia Karvan and Paul Bennett. Filming for ''House of Hancock'' took place in Perth and Sydney, which began in August 2014 and wrapped six weeks later in early October 2014.

Cast and characters

* Mandy McElhinney as

as Rose Hancock Porteous *

Robert Coleby Robert Coleby (born 1947) is a British actor who has spent most of his career in Australia. Active since the 1970s, he has over 70 film and television credits to his name. Coleby has acted on stage in numerous productions for the Queensland The ...

as Frank Rinehart

Reception

The first episode aired on 8 February 2015 at 8:45 on the

, against Ten’s NCIS: New Orleans. The Telemovie is split into two parts shown over two Sundays.

Awards and nominations

Controversy

Controversy over ''House of Hancock'' being defamatory has been a worry of

since it premiered on the

. Rinehart has accused the show of being incorrect. Since then, Gina Rinehart has taken legal action, for which her lawyers have been contacted about this defamatory and tried to stop part 2 from airing. On 24 February 2017 the Nine Network forced to release a carefully worded apology to Gina Rinehart for its inaccuracies and agreed not to release the TV series again on DVD, stream or sell it overseas.//

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:House of Hancock 2015 Australian television series debuts Australian drama television series 2010s Australian television miniseries Nine Network original programming 2015 Australian television series endings