It was created by Ted Childs and chronicles the professional and personal lives of the crew of the Royal Navy frigate HMS Suffolk.

The frigate HMS Grafton stood in for Suffolk and additional filming took place around HMNB Portsmouth with the full co-operation of the Royal Navy.

Other storylines follow Leading Marine Engineer Artificer (LMEA) Dave Finnan's relationship with his Charge Chief's daughter Teresa, the emotional state of Mickey Sobanski after a blundered rescue operation, new rating Rosie Bowen settling into life on her first ship and the budding cross-ranks relationship between officer Sam Quartermaine and medic Anita Cook.

Suffolk is mainly based at Portsmouth but engages in exercises such as war games throughout the series, as well as undertaking hazardous rescues of other vessels in the English Channel.

Making Waves featured an ensemble of actors but followed a core cast, with supporting players appearing in only a few episodes or having secondary storylines.

He is assisted by Lt Cdr Jenny Howard (played by Emily Hamilton), who is initially his temporary XO, but eventually accepts Brooke's offer to stay on the ship.

[5] Actors were auditioned and hired in late 2002, and included Alex Ferns, well-known to British audiences for his role as Trevor Morgan in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.

[8] Emily Hamilton, cast as executive officer Jenny Howard, was largely unknown to British television audiences at the time; her only notable role was in Russell T Davies's The Grand in the late 1990s.

[5][11][12] Alex Ferns arrived two days earlier than the rest of the cast to settle in, and made a trip to Yeovilton to meet Harrier pilots, while Emily Hamilton prepared for her role by shadowing Vanessa Spiller, XO of HMS Kent.

[15] Health and safety regulations required that Grafton was shadowed at all times by a support vessel during filming at sea, to intervene in the event of a member of the production team falling overboard.

[5] Location filming lasted until 26 June 2003 before post-production was completed in London, and the series was delivered to ITV in August 2003 for broadcast in the autumn schedules, though it would be held back for several months.

[4][5] A special preview screening of episode one was held aboard HMS Richmond on 13 February 2004, while the ship was in Aberdeen on a recruitment and promotional tour of the UK.

[4] Making Waves had been another in a line of expensive series which had been cancelled because they performed below ITV's expectations in the ratings, following Sweet Medicine and Family the previous year.

[25] The Scotsman dismissed it as little more than a six-part recruitment video, comparing scenes of refugees being lifted to real advertisements that showcased the navy's role in humanitarian crises, and concluded that the drama was a "collection of clichés and stilted dialogue".