The Brokenwood Mysteries
The Brokenwood Mysteries is a New Zealand television detective drama series that premiered on Prime in 2014.[2] Each of the first six series comprises four distinct episodes. From Series 7, seasons were extended to six episodes. The programme is set in the fictitious New Zealand town of Brokenwood in the North Island, and is filmed in the greater Auckland region.[1] Tim Balme conceived the series and is lead writer.[1]
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| Country of origin | New Zealand |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 9 |
| No. of episodes | 42 (list of episodes) |
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| Running time | 90-99 minutes |
| Production company | South Pacific Pictures |
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| Original network | Prime (2014–2019) Acorn streaming (2021–present) |
| Original release | 28 September 2014 – present |
The core cast includes Neill Rea as Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd, Fern Sutherland as Detective Kristin Sims, Nic Sampson as Detective Constable Sam Breen, Cristina Ionda as Dr. Gina Kadinsky, medical examiner, Jarod Rawiri as Detective Constable Daniel Chalmers.
In March 2023 Acorn announced that a six episode long Season 9 would stream in North America, commencing on Monday April 10. In Norway nrk TV will screen it from April 21.
In April 2023, South Pacific Pictures announced that Season 10 will start shooting later in 2023.
Synopsis
Detective Inspector Mike Shepherd is sent from Auckland to Brokenwood to investigate a local police officer. With a possible murder investigation underway that might link the two, Shepherd takes charge. After the investigation, Shepherd reassesses his life and decides to stay on indefinitely, even though it means a demotion to Detective Senior Sergeant. Brokenwood is a seemingly quiet country town where Shepherd, who has an unconventional approach to police work, is assisted by local Detective Kristin Sims, who is precise and efficient at her job, to solve murders. As the series progresses, the working relationship between the two moves from rocky to functional as they begin to appreciate each other's talents.[3]
Setting
The fictional town of Brokenwood has a population of about 5,000 and is located some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the coast. It is in a farming area, with crops ranging from wheat to local wine, and the surrounding area is home to many people who have escaped city life (from retirees to alternative lifestylers).[4] Though the exact location of Brokenwood is not stated, it was largely written[5] and filmed in small towns immediately to the north of Auckland. The real-life town of Warkworth doubles as Brokenwood,[6] and the Brokenwood Police Station is a 1911 building that was formerly the Helensville Post Office. In "Sour Grapes", Shepherd and Sims are seen travelling into Auckland across the Auckland Harbour Bridge, which would confirm that Brokenwood is also located to the north of the city. In the same episode, it is mentioned that it takes two and a half hours by road to get from Brokenwood to Auckland. This would put Brokenwood considerably farther north than either Warkworth or Helensville.[7] A map on the police station wall covers much of Whangarei District, from southern Bream Bay north to Matapouri, and another map shown in "Catch of the Day" locates Brokenwood close to the settlement of Whangārei Heads, at the northern end of Bream Bay.
Cast
Main
- Neill Rea as Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd:[8] a detective who decided to settle down in Brokenwood for a more peaceful life. He has many personal secrets, including several marriages, a nephew with Down Syndrome, and a love for country music and his Holden Kingswood classic car. He often pursues criminals in a way that seems odd to his colleagues.
- Fern Sutherland as Detective Kristin Sims: a cynical and intelligent young woman who has had many dating misfortunes. She is often irritated by Shepherd's methods and his blunt manner, but she gradually learns to appreciate his skills.
- Nic Sampson as Detective Constable Sam Breen (series 1-7): a young officer who often has embarrassing or awkward visits with suspects. His girlfriend Roxy gets a new job in the Solomon Islands and Breen moves away in the beginning of series 7.
- Jarod Rawiri as Detective Constable Daniel Chalmers (series 7-present): Chalmers replaces Breen after Breen moves to the Solomon Islands. Chalmers is Māori and an experienced former uniformed officer, and brings a no-nonsense style to the Brokenwood CIB.
- Cristina Ionda as Dr. Gina Kadinsky, the medical examiner. She is a highly eccentric Russian woman who often talks about how things were in Russia and doesn't quite understand "the English humour". She drops frequent hints that she is attracted to Shepherd, an attraction that is not reciprocated.
Recurring
- Elizabeth McRae as Mrs. Jean Marlowe (series 2–7): a kindly older woman who often engages in gossip after a murder.
- Pana Hema Taylor as Jared Morehu (series 1–3; guest series 5; series 6): Shepherd's Māori neighbour. As a local who has many friends and interests, he often finds himself involved in murder investigations.
- Colin Moy as Simon Hughes: the senior police superintendent/commander (exact rank is uncertain) for the region and a close friend of DSS Shepherd.
- Karl Willetts as Frankie "Frodo" Oades: a former mechanic who later owns Frodo's Coffee trailer/cart.
- Jason Hoyte as Ray Neilson (series 2–present): the proprietor of several local pubs, including The Frog and Cheetah, and the owner of Porky Pigeon Pizzeria.
- Tracy Lee Gray as Trudy Neilson (series 3-4, 6-present): Ray Neilson's sister, co-proprietor of the hotels, and one-time resident of the Brokenwood Women's Prison.
- Shane Cortese as Dennis Buchanan (series 2–present): a canny and suave defence lawyer who often crosses swords with the police.
- Zara Cormack as Kimberly Mason, Frodo's not-quite girlfriend.
- Roy Ward as Reverend Lucas Greene (series 2–3, 5-present): a local Anglican priest who thinks well of others out of Christian charity.
- Phil Peleton as Neil Bloom (series 1-present): a local pharmacist and later mayor of Brokenwood
- Rawiri Jobe as Kahu Taylor (series 4–5): Jared's cousin (or rather, Jared is his "brother's cousin", invariably provoking the question "how does that work?"). He's a self-employed plumber.
- Cameron Rhodes as Dr Roger Plummer ( series 3, 7-present): The local psychiatrist, member of volunteer fire-brigade, musical theatre society and lover of fine red wine.
Guests
Several well-known New Zealand actors have appeared in episodes of The Brokenwood Mysteries, among them:
- Ben Barrington ("Leather & Lace")
- Amanda Billing ("Over Her Dead Body")
- Ken Blackburn ("Catch of the Day", "The Killing Machine", and "As If Nothing Had Happened")
- Alison Bruce ("The Dark Angel")
- Lisa Chappell ("Good as Gold")
- Shane Cortese ("Catch of the Day" and "A Merry Bloody Christmas")
- Josephine Davison ("Sour Grapes")
- Stuart Devenie ("As If Nothing Had Happened")
- Mike Edward ("Blood and Water" and "The Scarecrow")
- Peter Elliott ("Sour Grapes")
- David Fane ("The Killing Machine")
- J.J. Fong ("Over Her Dead Body")
- Mark Hadlow ("The Garotte and the Vinkelbraun")
- Miranda Harcourt ("To Die or Not to Die")
- Peter Hayden ("A Merry Bloody Christmas")
- Theresa Healey ("Over Her Dead Body")
- Laura Hill ("Over Her Dead Body" and "The Killing Machine")
- Chris Hobbs ("The Killing Machine")
- Xavier Horan ("Leather & Lace")
- Nicola Kawana ("Over Her Dead Body" and "A Merry Bloody Christmas")
- Robyn Malcolm ("To Die or Not to Die")
- Ian Mune ("As If Nothing Had Happened")
- Miriama McDowell ("Blood and Water" and "Hunting the Stag")
- Jacqueline Nairn ("Stone Cold Dead")
- Rachel Nash ("Scared to Death")
- Dean O'Gorman ("The Dark Angel")
- Ingrid Park ("Catch of the Day", "As If Nothing Had Happened" and "Tontine")
- Bree Peters ("Three Coins in a Fountain")
- Donogh Rees ("Playing the Lie")
- Jodie Rimmer ("Leather & Lace", "To Die or Not to Die" and "Blood Pink")
- Ilona Rodgers ("Tontine")
- Emmett Skilton ("The Black Widower")
- Esther Stephens ("Fall From Grace")
- Olivia Tennet ("Scared to Death")
- Roz Turnbull ("Playing the Lie")
- Calvin Tuteao ("Playing the Lie")
- Jared Turner ("Hunting the Stag")
- Bronwyn Turei ("Blood Pink")
- Aidee Walker ("The Dark Angel")
- Catherine Wilkin ("As If Nothing Had Happened")
- Katie Wolfe ("The Black Widower")
- Tandi Wright ("The Dark Angel")
- Sara Wiseman ("Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson")
Casting changes
Nic Sampson, the actor who played D.C. Sam Breen, left the show to move back to the United Kingdom. His character was replaced by D.C. Daniel Chalmers (played by Jarod Rawiri).[9] who was introduced in series 7 episode 2.[10][11]
Episodes
Series overview
| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 4 | 28 September 2014 | 19 October 2014 | |
| 2 | 4 | 27 September 2015 | 18 October 2015 | |
| 3 | 4 | 30 October 2016 | 20 November 2016 | |
| 4 | 4 | 29 October 2017 | 19 November 2017 | |
| 5 | 4 | 28 October 2018 | 18 November 2018 | |
| 6 | 4 | 10 November 2019 | 1 December 2019 | |
| 7 | 6 | 29 March 2021 | 3 May 2021 | |
| 8 | 6 | 1 July 2022 | 1 August 2022 | |
| 9 | 6 | 10 April 2023 | 15 May 2023 | |
Series 1 (2014)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | N.Z. viewers (thousand) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Blood & Water" | Mike Smith | Tim Balme & Philip Dalkin | 28 September 2014 | 191.34[12] | |
| Detective Inspector Mike Shepherd is sent to Brokenwood to investigate the death of a farmer whose body has been found by two local fishermen. | |||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Sour Grapes" | Josh Frizzell | Tim Balme | 5 October 2014 | 131.25[13] | |
| The annual Brokenwood wine show is disrupted when the guest judge, a well-known wine critic, is found dead in a fermentation vat. | |||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Playing the Lie" | Michael Hurst | James Griffin | 12 October 2014 | 164.59[14] | |
| A morning round of golf for several prominent members of the Brokenwood Golf Club is interrupted when one of the club's organisation committee is found dead in a sand bunker, her face covered in blisters. | |||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Hunting the Stag" | Mike Smith | Tim Balme | 19 October 2014 | 141.98[15] | |
| A stag party in two senses of the word as three friends, one of whom is about to be married, go deer hunting in the bush, but only two return— the groom-to-be having been shot in the head. | |||||||
Series 2 (2015)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | N.Z. viewers (thousand) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | "Leather & Lace" | Mike Smith | Nick Ward & Tim Balme | 27 September 2015 | 116.16[16] | |
| The Brokenwood rugby club's coach is found dead— naked and tied to the goalposts. A second body is soon discovered. | |||||||
| 6 | 2 | "To Die or Not to Die" | Murray Keane | Tim Balme | 4 October 2015 | 97.16[17] | |
| A cast member in The Brokenwood Theatre Society's production of Hamlet collapses and dies after a performance. But the smell of poison leads Shepherd to believe that he has not "shuffled off this mortal coil" without help. | |||||||
| 7 | 3 | "Catch of the Day" | Mike Smith | Greg McGee | 11 October 2015 | 109.73[18] | |
| When a severed human hand is discovered in a crayfisherman's catch, Shepherd and his team need to discover whose it is and whether its owner is still alive. | |||||||
| 8 | 4 | "Blood Pink" | Josh Frizzell | Tim Balme | 18 October 2015 | 117.114[19] | |
| A touring musician is found electrocuted in what initially looks to be a suicide. As Shepherd investigates, he finds things are murkier than they first appeared. | |||||||
Series 3 (2016)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | "The Black Widower" | Mark Beesley | Tim Balme | 30 October 2016 | |
| A "Lord of the Ringz" tour comes across the wife of the tour guide, wrapped in fake cobwebs and poisoned with spider venom. | ||||||
| 10 | 2 | "Over Her Dead Body" | Murray Keane | Tim Balme | 6 November 2016 | |
| During the funeral for beloved local poet Declan O'Grady, an unexpected turn of events reveals that his coffin has been occupied by the corpse of an unidentified young woman. As the investigation progresses, Shepherd is led into the murky world of a local Cluedo club. | ||||||
| 11 | 3 | "The Killing Machine" | Mike Smith | Greg McGee | 13 November 2016 | |
| A thief's corpse is found at a local auto repair shop, followed by the murder of the people who worked there. As Shepherd unravels the case, he realizes that the real crime may not be anything as pedestrian as theft. | ||||||
| 12 | 4 | "A Merry Bloody Christmas" | Murray Keane | Tim Balme | 20 November 2016 | |
| The beloved mayor of Brokenwood is found brutally murdered in a Santa costume and his girlfriend stuffed in the chimney... also in a Santa costume. | ||||||
Series 4 (2017)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 1 | "Fall From Grace" | Helena Brooks | Pip Hall | 29 October 2017 | |
| When Kristin, Breen, and Gina celebrate Mike’s birthday with a picnic in Brokenwood Domain, they are witness to a fatal skydiving accident; the victim was Kristin's ex-boyfriend. | ||||||
| 14 | 2 | "Stone Cold Dead" | Murray Keane | Tim Balme | 5 November 2017 | |
| Charity Highmore-Browne is the owner and curator of Brokenwood's Historic Village. A stickler for all things Victorian, Charity lives in a time warp. Her sudden death by an arrow brings Mike and his team into the realm of New Zealand's colonial past as they deal with a blacksmith, a missionary, and the local postmaster. | ||||||
| 15 | 3 | "The Scarecrow" | Josh Frizzell | Greg McGee | 12 November 2017 | |
| Philip Henderson stands next to an impressive scarecrow amidst a field of damaged vegetation. His whole crop has failed. The scarecrow may have kept the birds away but this catastrophe is something bigger. | ||||||
| 16 | 4 | "As If Nothing Had Happened" | Mark Beesley | Tim Balme | 19 November 2017 | |
| Sunset Manor is a rest home in Brokenwood for the aged and infirm. The new resident is Edward Alderston. Having recently lost his wife, his family has decided Sunset Manor is the best place for him, especially now that Alzheimer's is taking hold. | ||||||
Series 5 (2018)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 1 | "Scared to Death" | Murray Keane | Tim Balme | 28 October 2018 | |
| A man is found dead on The Ghost Train. Can one die of fright or is there a more human explanation for his demise? | ||||||
| 18 | 2 | "Bride Not to Be" | Katie Wolfe | Pip Hall & Tim Balme | 4 November 2018 | |
| The Detectives must unravel the mystery of how a bride-to-be ended up dead in the river during her bachelorette party. | ||||||
| 19 | 3 | "Tontine" | Thomas Robins | James Griffin & Tim Balme | 11 November 2018 | |
| When Lester Nyman reaches the top of a local mountain after a gruelling ride and suffers a massive coronary, it doesn't seem suspicious. But when Gina reveals his toxicology showed astronomical levels of caffeine in his system, Mike starts to look more closely. | ||||||
| 20 | 4 | "The Dark Angel" | Mark Beesley | Tim Balme | 18 November 2018 | |
| At a wing in an abandoned mental health facility, a young couple stumble upon the body of an elderly man strapped to a trolley with electrodes connected to his temples. It would seem he was the victim of electrocution. | ||||||
Series 6 (2019)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1 | "The Power of Steam" | Oliver Driver | Tim Balme and Nic Sampson | 10 November 2019 | |
| After a murder at the Brokenwood Steampunk event, Mike and his team are thrown into a world of dress-up and escapism where the suspects all have alter-egos. | ||||||
| 22 | 2 | "A Real Page Turner" | Aidee Walker | Fiona Samuel | 17 November 2019 | |
| World-renowned crime-writing author Jack Rudd visits Brokenwood to give a reading from his latest novel at the local book club - but he never leaves, falling victim to a method of murder portrayed in his own book. | ||||||
| 23 | 3 | "Dead Men Don't Shoot Ducks" | Murray Keane | Tim Balme | 24 November 2019 | |
| When an animal activist is killed on the first day of duck hunting season, Mike and the team must determine whether it was an accidental shooting or something more sinister. | ||||||
| 24 | 4 | "Dead and Buried" | Katie Wolfe | Tim Balme | 1 December 2019 | |
| Mike and the team are reacquainted with some familiar faces when investigating a suspicious suicide at the Brokenwood Women's Prison. | ||||||
Series 7 (2021)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1 | "The Garotte and the Vinkelbraun" | Katie Wolfe | Timothy Balme | 29 March 2021 | |
| One of the celebrities from the show All Things Old and Beautiful is found dead in his antique garotte torture chair. It's up to Mike and his team to figure out who killed him. | ||||||
| 26 | 2 | "The Witches of Brokenwood" | Aidee Walker | Sarah-Kate Lynch | 5 April 2021 | |
| The Brokenwood Health Retreat proves rather unhealthy for one unfortunate visitor, leaving Mike and the team with the very tricky case to solve. | ||||||
| 27 | 3 | "Dog Day Morning" | Mark Beesley | Timothy Balme, Nic Sampson | 12 April 2021 | |
| When four masked men attempt to rob the Brokenwood Savings Bank, it's up to Mike and the team to determine which one of them pulled the trigger and killed the bank manager. | ||||||
| 28 | 4 | "Something Nasty in the Market" | Geoffrey Cawthorn | Fiona Samuel | 19 April 2021 | |
| Mike, Kristin, and the team investigate the murder of a Farmer's Market owner who staggers into the crowd with a garden implement fatally embedded in her back. | ||||||
| 29 | 5 | "Exposed to the Light" | Aidee Walker | Roy Ward | 26 April 2021 | |
| A fundraising evening at the historic Brokenwood Empire Cinema turns deadly when a fire breaks out; when the smoke clears, a local businessman is found strangled. | ||||||
| 30 | 6 | "Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson" | Mike Smith | Timothy Balme | 3 May 2021 | |
| When Mike mysteriously leaves Brokenwood on other police business, Kristin is left to lead the investigation into a 1970s party where two party-goers wind up dead. | ||||||
Series 8 (2022)
- Episode one aired on Friday, 1 July on Acorn in North America, with all the following episodes airing on the Mondays following (4 July, etc).
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 1 | "From the Cradle to the Grave" | Josh Frizzell | Timothy Balme | 1 July 2022 | |
| Mike and the team get a lesson in local history when the Brokenwood museum uncovers a dead body in the most unlikely of places. | ||||||
| 32 | 2 | "Death n Bass" | Mike Smith | James Griffin | 4 July 2022 | |
| The Brokenwood police are called in to investigate a murder at a music festival, where it appears the victim was killed by sound. | ||||||
| 33 | 3 | "Spark to a Flame" | Jacqueline Nairn | Roy Ward | 11 July 2022 | |
| Sheppard and the gang are called to the remote community of beaches at Pateke Point, where a local resident was found bludgeoned to death by an unknown blunt object and locked inside a house not her own. | ||||||
| 34 | 4 | "Three Coins in a Fountain" | David De Lautour | Timothy Balme | 18 July 2022 | |
| When the world champion of the bar game Spoofing is found stabbed on a fountain, the Brokenwood detectives must determine who was willing to commit murder in order to win at all costs. | ||||||
| 35 | 5 | "Good as Gold" | Caroline Bell-Booth | Sarah-Kate Lynch | 25 July 2022 | |
| A 160-year-old family feud over an avocado-sized gold nugget becomes the main motive for murder when a modern-day cowgirl is gunned down. | ||||||
| 36 | 6 | "Four Fires and a Funeral" | Michael Hurst | Timothy Balme & Nic Sampson | 1 August 2022 | |
| The charred remains of a body are discovered in a burned out rural shed leading to the investigation of a run of "accidental" deaths, all attended by the Brokenwood Fire Brigade. | ||||||
Series 9 (2023)
• Episode began streaming on Acorn in North America on Monday, 10 April 2023 with each of the rest of the episodes released on successive Mondays.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 1 | "Brokenwood: The Musical" | Katie Wolfe | Tim Balme | 10 April 2023 | |
| A musical theatre performance reenacting Brokenwood's history goes horrifically awry when the composer is electrocuted on stage. But was it murder or just an unfortunate accident? | ||||||
| 38 | 2 | "Old Blood Money" | David De Lautour | Roy Ward | 17 April 2023 | |
| Mike and the team discover more than one dead body, and a significant amount of family rivalry, in the manor house where a pair of aging siblings live. | ||||||
| 39 | 3 | "Nun of the Above" | Sima Vaele Urale | Sarah-Kate Lynch | 24 April 2023 | |
| The team at Brokenwood must navigate a group of nuns who have taken a vow of silence when a member of their order is strangled on their way to chapel. | ||||||
| 40 | 4 | "Going to the Dogs" | Mike Smith | Mike Smith and Tim Balme | 1 May 2023 | |
| Mike, Kristin and Chalmers must determine who wanted a local vet nurse dead when she uncovers a doping scandal and gets murdered for knowing too much. | ||||||
| 41 | 5 | "Shot of Love" | Jacqueline Nairn | Tim Balme | 8 May 2023 | |
| A death at a motel at first looks like an accident, but something is not right in the stories the guests tell. | ||||||
| 42 | 6 | "Motorcycle Mamas" | Mike Smith | Kathryn Burnett and Tim Balme | 15 May 2023 | |
| A motorcycle gang comes to Brokenwood to celebrate the wedding of one of its members, Debbie. But a tragic death saw a couple stop the party. | ||||||
Ratings
Series 1
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Series 2
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International
- In France the series is shown on France 3 with a viewer average of 3.4 million each episode and has been retitled Brokenwood.[20]
- The series has also been shown in Denmark,[20] the United States, Australia[21] and Italy.[22]
- The series premiered in Australia on 13th Street on 27 January 2016.[23] It is also shown on the 9Gem channel.
- The series premiered in the United States and Canada on Acorn TV the same day as New Zealand as one of the US co-producers and broadcasters.
The series also airs on Knowledge Network, the public television service of British Columbia.
The series also airs on television on several PBS stations. The series later premiered on Ovation (American TV channel) on 28 June 2021.[24]
- The series started being shown in the United Kingdom and Ireland on the Drama Channel in February 2017.[25]
- The series were shown in Bulgaria by Fox Crime Bulgaria in March 2017.
- The series is shown in Finland by YLE in 2017–2018.[26]
- The series premiered in Italy on Giallo on 16 April 2016 titled I misteri di Brokenwood.[27]
- The series premiered in Germany on Das Erste on 21 July 2019 titled Brokenwood - Mord in Neuseeland.[28]
- The series premiered in Belgium on één, on 8 May 2020.
- The series has also been shown in Czech TV Prima titled Vraždy v Brokenwoodu.[29]
- Shown in Japan on AXN.
Reception and awards
Critical response to the series has been mixed, with many reviewers impressed by the plots but lamenting the occasionally hokey dialogue. The two-hour length (broadcast length with ads) of episodes has also been mentioned by some as too long for such a series.
Writing in the New Zealand Herald, critic Colin Hogg panned the series, stating that it was "a local version aiming at that grand TV detective tradition" but that its "Dialogue is clichéd, the acting aches and the locations are boring."[30] International television website "The Medium is Not Enough" was also generally negative in its review, describing the series as a "genteel, New Zealand drama designed to appeal to perhaps an older demographic that likes comfortable murder-mysteries and to New Zealanders eager to watch anything that’s actually set in New Zealand and stars New Zealanders."[31]
Christine Tidball, writing for the entertainment website Cheese on Toast was kinder, rating the series "charming, without being cloying, very well-written (thanks to Tim Balme) and funny, but not too funny [...] It’s also engaging, full of twists, and will keep you guessing right till the end."[32]
As the series has progressed, reviews have become more positive. DVD review website High Def Standard described the first series as "uniquely thrilling TV" and "a New Zealand Midsomer Murders that isn’t afraid to venture off into Twin Peaks territory every now and again."[33] The Manawatu Standard's Malcolm Hopwood enjoyed the series but lamented episode length: "The Brokenwood Mysteries (Prime Sundays) is like our TPP negotiations. They are long, energy-sapping but satisfying if you're still awake after two hours." He added that the series was "intriguing, confusing and exhausting", and that it "deserves our support but it needs to be recorded and watched in small chunks."[34] Michael Reuben, writing for blu-ray.com, rated series one at 4 stars out of 5.[35]
The Brokenwood Mysteries received a bronze world medal at the New York Festival's International Television and Film Awards in 2014.[20]
The Brokenwood Mysteries received a silver world medal at the New York Festival's International Television and Film Awards in 2018.[20]
Cars
Shepherd's car is a 1971 Holden Kingswood (HG series). It has a cassette player for his country music cassettes.
Music
Brokenwood Mysteries showcases New Zealand's own country and alternative rock music.[36] In the first season, Shepherd is introduced as a fan of country and western music, sharing the music with Sims while driving around in his car.[37] The music he listens to and the background music of the show are all New Zealand performers. Season two, which climaxed with the death of country singer Holly Collins, was scored by Canadian-born Kiwi-based Tami Neilson and her brother Jay Neilson.[38] Three volumes of soundtracks covering season 1, 2, and 6 of the show have been released digitally on Apple Music, Amazon and Spotify.[39][40][41][42][43][44][45]
New Zealand musicians exhibited on Brokenwood include Tami Neilson, Mel Parsons, Delaney Davidson, Barry Saunders, the Harbour Union, Barnaby Weir of the Black Seeds, the Unfaithful Way, and Jenny Mitchell.[37] Other singers are Marlon Williams, the Warratahs, Bannerman, The DeSotos, Aldous Harding, Jackie Bristow, The Fables, Ghost Town, Reb Fountain, The Eastern, and Esther Stephens.[42][43][44]
Home releases
| Title | Set details | Blu-ray and DVD release dates | Special features | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region A/1[46] | Region 2[47] | Region 4[48] | |||
| The Brokenwood Mysteries - Series One |
|
7 July 2015 | 14 August 2017 | 16 December 2014 |
|
| The Brokenwood Mysteries — Series Two |
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3 May 2016 | 14 August 2017 | 25 November 2015 |
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| The Brokenwood Mysteries — Series Three |
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21 March 2017 | 20 November 2017 | 24 November 2016 |
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| The Brokenwood Mysteries — Series Four |
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27 March 2018 | 18 December 2017 | 7 December 2017 |
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| The Brokenwood Mysteries — Series Five |
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5 March 2019 | 17 December 2018 | 6 December 2018 |
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| The Brokenwood Mysteries — Series Six |
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26 May 2020 | 17 February 2020 | 19 May 2020 |
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| The Brokenwood Mysteries — Series Seven |
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20 July 2021 | 24 May 2021 | 8 July 2021 |
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| The Brokenwood Mysteries — Series Eight |
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8 November 2022 | 7 November 2022 | 21 October 2022 |
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References
- "The Brokenwood Mysteries". South Pacific Pictures. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
- bgarrettnz (28 September 2014). "The Brokenwood Mysteries (TV Series 2014– )". IMDb. Archived from the original on 29 April 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- Lydia Jenkin (20 September 2014). "Brokenwood Mysteries: A moment of sleuth". NZ Herald. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
- "The Place Archived 5 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine", thebrokenwoodmysteries.com. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
- Manson, B. "Tim Balme's killer concept", stuff.co.nz, 27 September 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
- Dickey, D. "Murder mystery comes to town", The Rodney Times, 1 May 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
- "Travel times and distances calculator," Tourism New Zealand.
- "CastingKey". screencastingnz.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- "Spy: Meet the new Brokenwood Mysteries member". Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- "WHY DID SAM BREEN LEAVE BROKENWOOD MYSTERIES? NIC SAMPSON'S EXIT FROM SEASON 7 EXPLAINED!". 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
- "A farewell to Brokenwood detective Sam Breen, from the man who plays him". 13 June 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- Regan (29 September 2014). "TV Ratings: 28 September 2014". Nielsen. Throng. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
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