New-Look Go Girls Gets Green Light

TVNZ has announced the latest series of its HD hit, Go Girls, will start filming next week with a largely new cast. 

According to the press release, “Now that Amy, Britta, Brad, Cody, Olivia and Kevin have successfully navigated their way through the minefield of their 20s, season five will introduce new friends who decide to try and take some control over their lives in an otherwise rather random universe.”

The new cast includes:

Shara Connolly reprising her role as Candy, the opportunistic bottle blonde who has inspired an entire “I Hate Candy” Facebook page.

George Mason (Shortland Street, Tangiwai) as series narrator Ted, a down-to-earth landscape gardener and cruisy dude until … the witch (Candy) and an angel come back into his life on the very same day.

Tai Berdinner-Blades (Home by Christmas) as Bennie, Ted’s warm-hearted but terminally unemployed sister who’s in desperate need of a bridesmaid’s frock for her best friend’s wedding.

Newcomer JJ Fong as Alice, a nerd princess who’s about to marry her long-term fiance, a string of disasters notwithstanding.

Leon Wadham (Under the Mountain) as Levi, Ted’s best friend and flatmate who works in events management. Smart and confident, his life is pretty much perfect. But not for long …

Go Girls producer Britta Hawkins is “thrilled” to be bringing the next generation of Kiwi acting talent to the screen.

“Our new cast have big shoes to fill, but we are confident that this new group will be as loved as their predecessors.”

Season four drew more than two million viewers and won 2012 NZTV awards for Best Drama Series and Best Costume Design.

TVNZ says the “consistent popularity” of the show contributed to NZ On Air funding the fifth series.

“Five series of any local drama is a wonderful milestone,” NZOA chief executive Jane Wrightson says. “NZ On Air is delighted to bring a major TV2 series back to the screen in 2013.”

But even if it rates as well as previous seasons, NZOA won’t fund beyond a sixth — because of funding demands, it has capped drama funding to six seasons of a series and factual series funding to four seasons.

Season four of Go Girls ranked 26th of the programmes NZOA funded in 2011/12, averaging 321,738 viewers.

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