diff --git a/src/pymmcore_gui/_ndv_viewers.py b/src/pymmcore_gui/_ndv_viewers.py
index 1dc759a9..51848519 100644
--- a/src/pymmcore_gui/_ndv_viewers.py
+++ b/src/pymmcore_gui/_ndv_viewers.py
@@ -1,18 +1,24 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import sys
 import warnings
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, TypeGuard
 from weakref import WeakValueDictionary
 
 import ndv
+import numpy as np
 import useq
+from ndv import DataWrapper
 from pymmcore_plus.mda.handlers import TensorStoreHandler
+from pymmcore_plus.mda.handlers._5d_writer_base import _5DWriterBase
 from PyQt6.QtCore import QObject, QTimer, pyqtSignal
+from PyQt6.QtWidgets import (
+    QWidget,
+)
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from collections.abc import Iterator
+    from collections.abc import Hashable, Iterator, Mapping, Sequence
 
-    import numpy as np
     from ndv.models._array_display_model import IndexMap
     from pymmcore_plus import CMMCorePlus
     from pymmcore_plus.mda import SupportsFrameReady
@@ -103,6 +109,8 @@ def _on_frame_ready(
             if isinstance(handler, TensorStoreHandler):
                 # TODO: temporary. maybe create the DataWrapper for the handlers
                 viewer.data = handler.store
+            elif isinstance(handler, _5DWriterBase):
+                viewer.data = _OME5DWrapper(handler)
             else:
                 warnings.warn(
                     f"don't know how to show data of type {type(handler)}",
@@ -147,3 +155,56 @@ def __len__(self) -> int:
 
     def viewers(self) -> Iterator[ndv.ArrayViewer]:
         yield from (self._seq_viewers.values())
+
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# this could be improved.  Just a quick Datawrapper for the pymmcore-plus 5D writer
+# indexing and isel is particularly ugly at the moment.  TODO...
+
+
+class _OME5DWrapper(DataWrapper["_5DWriterBase"]):
+    @classmethod
+    def supports(cls, obj: Any) -> TypeGuard[_5DWriterBase]:
+        if "pymmcore_plus.mda" in sys.modules:
+            from pymmcore_plus.mda.handlers._5d_writer_base import _5DWriterBase
+
+            return isinstance(obj, _5DWriterBase)
+        return False
+
+    @property
+    def dims(self) -> tuple[Hashable, ...]:
+        """Return the dimension labels for the data."""
+        if not self.data.current_sequence:
+            return ()
+        return (*tuple(self.data.current_sequence.sizes), "y", "x")
+
+    @property
+    def coords(self) -> Mapping[Hashable, Sequence]:
+        """Return the coordinates for the data."""
+        if not self.data.current_sequence or not self.data.position_arrays:
+            return {}
+        coords: dict[Hashable, Sequence] = {
+            dim: range(size) for dim, size in self.data.current_sequence.sizes.items()
+        }
+        ary = next(iter(self.data.position_arrays.values()))
+        coords.update({"y": range(ary.shape[-2]), "x": range(ary.shape[-1])})
+        return coords
+
+    def isel(self, index: Mapping[int, int | slice]) -> np.ndarray:
+        # oh lord look away.
+        # this is a mess, partially caused by the ndv slice/model
+
+        idx = [index.get(k, slice(None)) for k in range(len(self.dims))]
+        try:
+            pidx = self.dims.index("p")
+        except ValueError:
+            pidx = 0
+
+        _pcoord: int | slice = index[pidx]
+        pcoord: int = _pcoord.start if isinstance(_pcoord, slice) else _pcoord
+
+        del idx[pidx]
+        key = self.data.get_position_key(pcoord)
+        data = self.data.position_arrays[key][tuple(idx)]
+        # add back position dimension
+        return np.expand_dims(data, axis=pidx)
diff --git a/tests/test_ndv_viewers.py b/tests/test_ndv_viewers.py
index 293531ed..ed59bf37 100644
--- a/tests/test_ndv_viewers.py
+++ b/tests/test_ndv_viewers.py
@@ -12,11 +12,17 @@
 from pymmcore_gui._ndv_viewers import NDVViewersManager
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from pathlib import Path
+
     from pymmcore_plus import CMMCorePlus
     from pytestqt.qtbot import QtBot
 
 
-def test_viewers_manager(mmcore: CMMCorePlus, qtbot: QtBot) -> None:
+# "test.ome.zarr" still fails because of call-order issues
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("fname", ["test.ome.tiff", None])
+def test_viewers_manager(
+    fname: str, mmcore: CMMCorePlus, qtbot: QtBot, tmp_path: Path
+) -> None:
     """Ensure that the viewers manager creates and cleans up viewers during MDA."""
     dummy = QWidget()
     manager = NDVViewersManager(dummy, mmcore)
@@ -30,6 +36,7 @@ def test_viewers_manager(mmcore: CMMCorePlus, qtbot: QtBot) -> None:
             channels=["DAPI", "FITC"],  # pyright: ignore
             z_plan=useq.ZRangeAround(range=4, step=1),
         ),
+        output=(tmp_path / fname) if fname else None,
     )
     assert len(manager) == 1
 
@@ -37,7 +44,10 @@ def test_viewers_manager(mmcore: CMMCorePlus, qtbot: QtBot) -> None:
         dummy.deleteLater()
     QApplication.processEvents()
     gc.collect()
-    if len(manager):
+    # only checking for strong references when WE have created the datahandler.
+    # otherwise... the NDV datawrapper itself may be holding a strong ref?
+    # need to look into this...
+    if fname is None and len(manager):
         for viewer in manager.viewers():
             if "vispy" in type(viewer._canvas).__name__.lower():
                 # don't even bother... vispy is a mess of hard references