The Brokenwood Mysteries (2014)

Watchseries; WE subscribe to Acorn.TV (heartily recommended) -- so we get to stream all these great (mostly Brit or part of the emmpahr {empire}) episodes or mini-series. Neill Rea is 'Mike', a chubby new chief detective in this quaint area of NZ. He is ably-assisted by 'Kristin', played by a very pretty Fern Sutherland, who seems strictly business, but may, one day, have designs on Mike, who, like Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park, is always on the lookout for a future Mrs. Ex. Meantime, Mike is strictly business also, diligently hunting through clues to find the perpetrator of a fresh murder each week.

Another quirky character is the grim Russian Medical Examiner, Gina, played with reserve by Cristina Serban Ionda, who apparently, is American, but sounds like a sardonic medical official from somewhere in the Russian steppes. Whatever Mike was thinking happened to the victim never did, according to her. She might have romantic designs on Mike one day, too, if she ever warms up to the average water temperature in Wisconsin in December.

Always mysterious, always entertaining, always keeping you guessing. A fine series, with quality episodes each season. No nudity or cursing.

WE subscribe to Acorn.TV (heartily recommended) -- so we get to stream all these great (mostly Brit or part of the emmpahr {empire}) episodes or mini-series. Neill Rea is 'Mike', a chubby new chief detective in this quaint area of NZ. He is ably-assisted by 'Kristin', played by a very pretty Fern Sutherland, who seems strictly business, but may, one day, have designs on Mike, who, like Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park, is always on the lookout for a future Mrs. Ex. Meantime, Mike is strictly business also, diligently hunting through clues to find the perpetrator of a fresh murder each week.

Another quirky character is the grim Russian Medical Examiner, Gina, played with reserve by Cristina Serban Ionda, who apparently, is American, but sounds like a sardonic medical official from somewhere in the Russian steppes. Whatever Mike was thinking happened to the victim never did, according to her. She might have romantic designs on Mike one day, too, if she ever warms up to the average water temperature in Wisconsin in December.

Always mysterious, always entertaining, always keeping you guessing. A fine series, with quality episodes each season. No nudity or cursing.

The Brokenwood Mysteries watchseries. As with many other highly entertaining titles to have come out from the brilliant minds of our mates from Australia and New Zealand, this one stands out for several reasons.

Firstly, the ensemble cast meshes together so perfectly that when they start finishing each others sentences as scripted, it comes across as genuine and believable. Secondly, the writing and stories are unique enough and so rich in detail that they come across as completely authentic. Lastly, the mysteries themselves are just complicated enough to keep you guessing and second guessing all the way to the end. I thought I was pretty clever when I correctly identified the killer in the first episode. Yet, now thru season 4, I've yet to be able to finger the culprit even once more.

If you like a great mystery, well written with lots of twists and turns as well as colorful characters populating a simply stunning locale, I can confidently recommend you visit the quirky world of Brokenwood.

/refers to Series 1 and 2/

Being an admirer of British and Scandinavian crime dramas, from time to time, I "look around" to realise what is going on regarding related field in other countries. As far I can recall, The Brokenwood Mysteries is my first watch of series coming from and depicting New Zealand - a country so far away, but with lots of interest and praise.

In spite of evident similarities and benchmarks with particularly UK series, I liked The Brokenwood Mysteries from the beginning: realistic characters, beautiful landscape, often black humour making you giggle... True, in and "old" fashion, one episode is dedicated to a single case and a small township in a safe country cannot be a venue of frequent felonies, but the story, characters and environment is so pleasing (at least to me residing tens of thousand miles away) that I just followed all the 8 cases continuously, often "forgetting" the commonness of the case or its solution/ending. Besides, the viewers can obtain additional information about wines, rugby and other areas or branches as each case deals basically with a certain activity.

So, all in all, I liked the series and might recommend it to our local TV stations to be screened. But I am sure that NZ and neighbouring viewers might have their reservations on the series and its originality...

Came across this well done series from the "you may like " section and was pleasantly entertained. The show built the characters quickly and the result was a wonderful mix of personalities with a nice mix of serious and humour ,especially from Fern and Neill. The Medical Examiner is like someone everyone knows, and the banter between all the cast is the strongest part of the show.

Really enjoyed seeing a program in NZ that wasn't trying to portray either Auckland as "Little Sydney" all glam and international or South Auckland as "Little Harlem", for the 1.5mil that live in Auckland, there are stories from the other 3 million outside of the city.

The settings were real without LOTR CGI, the characters were not over the top, the stories had their twists and turns without relying on overnight DNA tests.

Similar to other cop shows, probably, different and standing on its own, yes it does that too.

Really though, how many police shows are all that unique nowadays anyway (CSI and NCIS franchises) or the formulaic UK shows: Two unusual surnames for the title, a male/female lead, one of the two has some disturbing past that troubles them.......doesn't make them bad watching.

It's perfectly fine to watch TV for entertainment and not to be educated or enlightened, that's what real life is for. Brokenwood does that from an NZ viewpoint with a bit of brain engagement and if you don't think this sort of thing happens, you haven't read the papers for 40 years.

Good lord I'm glad I didn't read that one horrible review before giving this show a chance. I really can't work out why that person has such a bee in their bonnet (using polite language there LOL) over what is really a very nicely put together series that has many great qualities. It certainly does not deserve the pasting that person gave it, or that ridiculously low rating. Their "review" feels like there's some grudge or sour grapes going on that are nothing to do with the quality of the show.

Anyway, no it's not a riveting intense drama with horrific forensic details, or sordid tales of police corruption and what not. It's a light crime series with an emphasis on small town characters & unique kiwi lifestyle. I'd liken it more to that show about the cop in Scotland (cant remember the name off hand) or possibly a little like Heartbeat rather than comparing it to Midsommer murders or - heaven forbid!! the appalling Murder She wrote!

It's not going to win any drama awards and it has a few issues with some of the minor actors and occasionally awkward scripting, but this is fun and interesting and worth the price of admission (ie free) even if only for the talents of Pana Hema Taylor.