Filming on the Nine Network production, aimed at a prime-time slot, was brought to an early end by rain yesterday during a scene in which characters search for a runaway daughter in the grounds of Bulli Beach Tourist Park.

The show follows a family of debt collectors, including patriarch Jim Christie (Shane Bourne), matriarch Claire Christie (Debra Byrne) and daughters Kate and Lily (Gigi Edgley and Sophie Hensser).

Some suggest the family - and the show’s promos - too closely resemble Seven’s Rafters, which pulled more than two million viewers a week last year.

Former Home and Away star Kip Gamblin, who plays Kate’s husband, said they were ‘‘nothing alike’’.

‘‘I think people are saying that because of the success of Rafters - they think we’re trying to do a version.

‘‘The only [similarity] is it’s set in a family. [Tricky Business] is more real and it’s more tangible.

‘‘We’re not trying to draw a picture that debt collectors are these shiny, happy people.

‘‘What I love about it is the grittiness. It actually has a dark side - I don’t think the scriptwriters wanted to play it safe.’’

The first two episodes were directed by Shawn Seet, who has had a hand in the Underbelly series.

Edgley, of Farscape and Rescue Special Ops fame, praised the script as a welcome relief from the usual TV fare, which she described as ‘‘like takeaway’’. ‘‘They’re good at the quantity, but not the quality,’’ she said.

‘‘There’s just so many reality shows.’’

Illawarra locales are filmed across 13 episodes and referenced in the dialogue.

Filming has included a car chase through Austinmer and scenes at Bulli Beach and Belmore Basin, bringing Gamblin close to where he used to watch his grandfather, Mac Gudgeon, work as a chemist at 60 Crown St.

‘‘He worked there seven days a week for, I think, 37 years,’’ he said.

The show is in production until April.