Gibney admits that although  hers was  one of the creative minds who came up with the plot, it wasn't until the read-through that it dawned on her what would be involved.

"I had to go to the art department and go 'Um, how are we going to shoot this?"'

Gibney and Hakewill play Lola and Chelsea, two women forced to go on the run Thelma and Louise-style after they inadvertently get caught up in a deadly carjacking. Both are at a crossroads in their lives, with the chance encounter with the wrong people at the wrong time serving to open up their worlds both geographically and emotionally on their own personal journeys.

The short-run series from Seven is an action-packed, stunt-filled thriller brimming with black humour. The two leads come under attack from all directions.

"We're treading a fine line with the show," she says. "We don't want it to be gratuitous violence and so much violence against women that people want to turn it off because we want the audience to be in with our heroines, but also we don't want to wimp out on things either."

It's a far cry from Julie Rafter, but the show is completely Gibney's baby. It was her idea to bring together two women in extreme circumstances, previously strangers who had stood at the same bus stop each day for 18 months but without saying a word, who are polar opposites. Rounding out the cast are Steve Peacocke, who plays an earnest detective, and Nicholas Bell as a sinister, corrupt cop.

Gibney developed the show with her husband, production designer Richard Bell – it's the first creation of their company R & R Productions – and Matchbox Pictures. She says she wanted to create strong female characters who engendered a sense of respect and admiration.

"Initially for me, my character was about showcasing a woman in her late 40s. Certainly a lot of women my age and older feel like they get to a point where they become invisible, and so I wanted to create a character that wasn't invisible," she says.

Her character Lola, she says, is tough and uncompromising. "You'd want her on your team if there was a fight or if anything happened or you needed someone who could step up. Lola could step up," she says. "She has got a soft side to her which you will uncover as the series goes on, but she's not Julie Rafter – you're not going to go to her for a cup of sugar."

Equally as compelling as the physical chase of the two women is the unfolding of their personal narratives. Both are isolated characters  with secrets and achieving a kind of redemption as their journey goes on.

While Thelma and Louise is an obvious comparison, Lola and Chelsea don't share that same to-hell-with-it fatalism as the characters from the 1991 movie.

"Whereas Thelma and Louise kept doing things that made them worse fugitives, as in robbing banks or whatever, Lola and Chelsea don't do that. They're on the run because bad people are chasing them and ultimately they do have to do some things to get themselves out of it, but not in the same vein.

"And they're not going to drive over a cliff at the end," she says, laughing. "We would like to get a second series out of them."

At this particular time, Gibney and team are still in the midst of the editing, with two different endings shot to maximise the options which could lead into a second season.

Gibney says she's "cautiously optimistic" that the women's story will continue. "I honestly think the Australian public and people anywhere will fall in love with these women and want to see their journey."

It's a journey that takes in much of Australia – the shoot covered a staggering 60 locations in 50 days. But the most important part of the story is the women's personal growth.

"It's about healing your past and leaving things behind and letting them go. For me, it's always been my mantra about learning from past mistakes and trying not to hold on to them, and that's the only way I've been able to move forward with my life," Gibney says.

"That's the underlying deep message. Other than that, it's just a really great adventure story with two great female protagonists and hopefully other women will go 'I want to be in that car'."

Gibney, 51, says tackling the stunts and risks involved gave her a great sense of empowerment. Despite phenomenal success in her career, she says she never had self-belief in her 20s and 30s; it has  come with age.

"At 50, you actually think, I'm actually a good person, I have had a great career, I am really good at what I do and I can go out there and do something different and I don't give a shit if anyone tells me I can't, because I can. And that's the great thing about getting older, actually being comfortable enough to go, yes, I can do this."

WHAT Wanted

WHEN Seven, Tuesday, 9pm