NZ on Air says it is providing $3.9 million in funding for a five-part drama series based on the life and career of criminal lawyer Mike Bungay QC.

The series - entitled Dear Murderer - will be made for TV One and draws on the biography of the same title.

The producers, Screentime New Zealand, say the series will be "an intimate, personal encounter with one of New Zealand's great and enduring characters".

Mike Bungay died in 1993 aged 58. Born in London, he came to New Zealand in 1961 and became Queen's Counsel in 1986. He was renowned as one of New Zealand's leading criminal defenders, a larger-than-life character who appeared in over 100 murder trials.

A tribute by Gary Turkington on Mike Bungay after his death refers to his "earthy style, commonsense, impish humour, one man against the overwhelming state – the stuff jurors understand and follow."