The Brokenwood Mysteries

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The Brokenwood Mysteries
File:Brokenwood.jpg
Filming of the second episode of Series 2, at Helensville, Auckland
Genre <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Directed by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Mike Smith
  • Josh Frizzell
  • Michael Hurst
  • Murray Keane[1]
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Country of origin New Zealand
Original language(s) English
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 8 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Kelly Martin
  • John Barnett
[1]
Producer(s) Chris Bailey[1]
Running time 90-99 minutes
Production company(s) South Pacific Pictures
Distributor All3Media
Release
Original network Prime
Original release 28 September 2014 –
present
External links
Website

The Brokenwood Mysteries is a New Zealand detective drama television series that premiered on Prime in 2014.[2] The program is set in a fictitious New Zealand town of Brokenwood and was filmed in the greater Auckland region.[1] Tim Balme conceived the series and is lead writer along with Philip Dalkin, James Griffin and Greg McGee.[1] In December 2014, it was confirmed that The Brokenwood Mysteries would return for a four-episode second season set to premiere in 2015.[3] NZ on Air approved funding of NZ$4.3 million for the first season,[4] NZ$4 million for the second season[5] and NZ$4.1 million for third season.[6]

Synopsis

Detective Inspector Mike Shepherd is sent from Auckland to Brokenwood to assist the local police with a possible murder investigation. Brokenwood is a seemingly quiet country town, where Shepherd, who has an unconventional approach to his task, works with local Detective Constable Kristin Sims, who is precise and efficient at her job, to solve murder mysteries. As the series progresses the working relationship between the two moves from rocky to functional as the two get to appreciate each other's talents.[7]

Setting

The fictional town of Brokenwood has a population of about 5000, and is located some 20 kilometres from the coast. It is in a farming area, with crops ranging from wheat to viticulture, and the surrounding area is home to many people who have escaped city life (from retirees to alternative lifestylers).[8] Though the exact location of Brokenwood is not stated, it was largely written[9] and filmed in small towns immediately to the north of Auckland. The real-life town of Warkworth doubles as Brokenwood,[10] and the Brokenwood Police Station is a 1911 building that was the Helensville Post Office.

Cast

Regular cast
  • Neill Rea as Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd [11]
  • Fern Sutherland as Detective Kristin Sims
  • Cristina Ionda as Dr. Gina Kadinsky, medical examiner
  • Nic Sampson as Detective Constable Sam Breen
  • Pana Hema Taylor as Jared Morehu
Recurring characters
  • Colin Moy as Hughes
  • Roy Ward as Reverend Lucas Greene
Guest stars

Several well-known New Zealand actors and actresses have appeared in episodes of The Brokenwood Mysteries, among them:

Episodes

Series Episodes Originally aired
First aired Last aired
1 4 28 September 2014 (2014-09-28) 19 October 2014 (2014-10-19)
2 4 27 September 2015 (2015-09-27) 18 October 2015 (2015-10-18)

Series 1 (2014)

No.
overall		 No. in
series		 Title Directed by Written by Original air date N.Z. viewers
(thousand)
1 1 "Blood and Water" Mike Smith Tim Balme & Philip Dalkin 28 September 2014 (2014-09-28) 191.34[12]
Detective Inspector Mike Shepherd is sent to Brokenwood to investigate the death of a farmer after his body is found by two local fishermen.
2 2 "Sour Grapes" Josh Frizzell Tim Balme 5 October 2014 (2014-10-05) 131.25[13]
The annual Brokenwood wine show is disrupted when the body of the guest judge, a well-known wine critic, is found dead in a fermenting vat.
3 3 "Playing the Lie" Michael Hurst James Griffin 12 October 2014 (2014-10-12) 164.59[14]
A morning round of golf for several prominent members of the Brokenwood Golf Club is interrupted when the club's owner comes staggering towards them, her face covered in blisters, before collapsing.
4 4 "Hunting the Stag" Mike Smith Tim Balme 19 October 2014 (2014-10-19) 141.98[15]
A stag party in two senses of the word. A group of friends, one of whom is about to be married, go hunting deer in the bush. Only three 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 (2015-09-27) 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 (2015-10-04) 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 Mike 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 (2015-10-11) 109.73[18]
When a severed human hand is discovered in a crayfisherman's catch Mike and his team need to discover whose it is and whether its owner is still alive.
8 4 "Blood Pink" Mike Smith Tim Balme 18 October 2015 (2015-10-18) 117.114[19]
A touring musician is found electrocuted in what initially looks to be a suicide. As Mike investigates, he finds things are more murky than they first appeared.

Ratings

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, and Australia.[21]
  • The series premiered in Australia on 13th Street on 27 January 2016.[22]

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 cliched, the acting aches and the locations are boring."[23] International television website "The Medium is Not Enough" was also generally negative in its review, describing the series as "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."[24]

Christine Tidball, writing for 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."[25]

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."[26] 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."[27] Michael Reuben, writing for blu-ray.com, rated series one at 4 stars out of 5.[28]

The series has generally proved popular with the public, and has rated 7.0 out of 10 by reviewers on IMDb.com.

The Brokenwood Mysteries received a bronze world medal at the New York Festival's International Television and Film Awards in 2014.[20]

Cars

Mike's car is a 1971 Holden Kingswood. It has a casette player for Mike's country music casettes.

DVD releases

Title Set details Blu-ray and DVD release dates Special features
Region A/1[29] Region 4[30]
The Brokenwood Mysteries
  • Discs: 2
  • Episodes: 4
 7 July 2015 (2015-07-07) 16 December 2014 (2014-12-16)
  • Interviews with the stars and head writer
The Brokenwood Mysteries — Season Two
  • Discs: 2
  • Episodes: 4
 TBA 25 November 2015 (2015-11-25)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ "The Place", thebrokenwoodmysteries.com. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  9. ↑ Manson, B. "Tim Balme's killer concept", stuff.co.nz, 27 September 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  10. ↑ Dickey, D. "Murder mystery comes to town", The Rodney Times, 1 May 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ "Brokenwood wins at the New York festivals", thebrokenwoodmysteries.com. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ "Colin Hogg: Porky detective no Poirot", New Zealand Herald. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  24. ↑ "Review: The Brokenwood Mysteries 1x1 (New Zealand: Prime)", the-medium-is-not-enough.com. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  25. ↑ "'The Brokenwood Mysteries' (TV review)", cheeseontoast.co.nz. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  26. ↑ "'The Brokenwood Mysteries' – Series 1: Blu-ray Review", highdefstandard.com. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  27. ↑ Hopwood, M. "Enough poison to kill off possums", Manawatu Standard. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  28. ↑ Reuben, M. "Nice town. Watch your back!", blu-ray.com. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  29. ↑ Region A/1 set:
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Region 4 DVD set:
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External links

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