AustLit

An Australian/New Zealand co-production, The Rainbow Warrior Conspiracy traces the sinking of Greenpeace's flagship in Auckland Harbour in 1985, and the associated death of a photographer who was on board the vessel at the time of the bombing.

Moran notes, in his Guide to Australian TV Series, that 'cast and crew consisted of New Zealanders and Australians. With the exception of Australian actor Peter Carroll in the role of the head of DGSE, the French secret service, the French agents were played by French Canadian actors.'

Like 1986's Cyclone tracy, the mini series uses 'fictional characters to dramatically penetrate the chain of recent and very real events in question', according to Moran, with a particular focus on three characters: a Greenpeace volunteer, a New Zealand government minister, and an American reporter. The four episodes span events from French nuclear testing in the Pacific and the infiltration of Greenpeace by French agents through to the bombing itself and the imprisonment of the agents responsible.