Larry Silverstein Wonderful detective series based in New Zealand. Superb blend of characters led by Neill Rea and Fern Sutherland. Lots of wit and humor in the crisp writing, and it's always fun trying to figure out who the killer is. Highly recommend!

orvuus I've never really thought much about New Zealand, despite the fact that many cultural figures have come from there and, say, their role in WW2. I have visited Australia and know how very different that is from the United States, not least in terms of landscape. But I found that in Sydney people were quite a bit different than in the "wine country" I visited just north of there -- people were culturally very similar to the small town America I was familiar with. This show purports to show a small town that is very much like that, with the addition of the Maoris integrated into society.All this intro aside, I love this series, as it both very funny, with engaging and believable characters, but also has believable and clever murder mysteries. I haven't really found a false note yet, and hope it can go on and on -- I've burned through the first three "series" or seasons and can only root for more. Highly recommended!

pbellarbutus Just watched the first episode of Brokenwood and nearly turned it off in the first few minutes, fearing it was going to turn into needless violence, foul language and sex, like Top of the Lake, where the only good thing was the scenery. But no, I was pleasantly surprised, the lead actors were excellent and supporting cast very good in my opinion. Had no problem with the plot or the 'ho-hum' Auckland scenery. (I'm a Central Otago native)So I look forward to future episodes of this refreshing NZ 'whodunnit', which for me rates better than Midsomer, definitely better than Death in Paradise, but perhaps not quite as good as Lewis, Frost, or the Swedish version of Wallander. Well done NZ!

Bene Cumb /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...