It was based on a script by Mac Gudgeon, who worked on the docks in the 1960s when he was avoiding the draft for the Vietnam War.
Gudgeon wrote the script in sex weeks and showed it to Bob Weis, who was producing Women of the Sun, a mini series on which Gudeon was unit manager.
[3] t was the first Australian television Jack Thompson had appeared in except for Spyforce as "I fell in love with the Waterfront script.
"[4] Greta Scacchi agreed to play the female lead after her breakthrough role in Heat and Dust.
"[5] The Age called it "gritty, gutsy drama... a rattling good yarn... not to be missed.