The cutting of several scenes and the addition of a disclaimer to the final episode of the TV mini-series House of Hancock have not dissuaded billionaire Gina Rinehart from suing Channel Nine for defamation and malicious falsehood.
The mining magnate has filed documents in the NSW Supreme Court claiming both episodes of the two-part series - which attracted a national audience of 2 million viewers for each instalment - defamed her.
Mrs Rinehart will ask the court to award damages and interest and also make an order permanently restraining Channel Nine from further broadcasting both the version that went to air with about four minutes of cuts, and the unedited version.
The hit show was set primarily in the years between 1980 and 2002 and focused on the epic feud between the late Lang Hancock (played by Sam Neill), his wife Rose Lacson (Peta Sergeant) and Mrs Rinehart, his daughter (played by Mandy McElhinney).
Following the broadcast of episode one on February 7, Mrs Rinehart sought and won an advance viewing of the finale before it aired on February 14.
A last-minute deal was hammered out by lawyers, permitting the programme to go ahead with a raft of scenes edited out. The nature and length of those scenes is subject to a confidential settlement.
A disclaimer stating the show was a "drama, not a documentary" and that Mrs Rinehart was not interviewed by the producers was shown at the beginning and end of the episode.
However, the terms of settlement have not placated Mrs Rinehart.
In an amended summons filed late last week, Mrs Rinehart says in broadcasting the mini-series, Channel Nine not only defamed her but committed the tort of injurious or malicious falsehood.
To be successful, Mrs Rinehart has to prove the alleged false statements were motivated by malice and intended to cause harm to her business. She also has to prove actual damage, such as loss of business which is caused by the false statement.
The matter returns to court on Monday.
Channel Nine and Mrs Rinehart are yet to respond to requests for comment.
Mrs Rinehart is also battling court cases against two of her four adult children in the NSW Supreme Court and the Federal Court over the family's $5 billion trust fund and mining royalties.
Mrs Rinehart's son, John Hancock, who is not party to the legal action against Channel Nine, has created his own list of "false scenes" that were not edited out following Mrs Rinehart's advance screening.
They include a limousine ride in which he and his three sisters brag about their wealth and a trip to the Philippines to dig up dirt for the inquest into Lang Hancock's death.
"I've never been to the Philippines in my life. I did not talk to anyone linked to the inquest in any bar," Mr Hancock said.
