The Brokenwood Mysteries

Depending on the genre of tv show you like the most, you may or may not have heard of The Brokenwood Mysteries.

And I'm here to tell you that if you love good murder mysteries in the style of Midsomer Murders, Death in Paradise, Only Murders in the Building, etc… then you need to check out this offering from New Zealand.

The Brokenwood Mysteries is a detective drama series that began airing in 2014. With eight seasons available to get stuck into, each of the first six has four distinct episodes, each running for around an hour and a half.

Seasons seven and eight have six episodes in each – so even more mystery drama!!

But what is The Brokenwood Mysteries all about, and is it worth watching?

What Is The Brokenwood Mysteries About?

Set in the fictitious New Zealand town of Brokenwood, Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd (Neill Rea) is sent from Auckland to Brokenwood to investigate a local police officer.

With a possible murder investigation underway, Shepherd takes charge. After the investigation, he reassesses his life and decides to stay on indefinitely.

Of course, he is not alone, with Detective Kristin Sims (Fern Sutherland), Detective Constable Sam Breen (Nic Sampson) and the medical examiner Dr. Gina Kadinsky (Cristina Serban Ionda) making up the rest of the team that must investigate the various crimes.

And as with any small town, there are a whole bunch of characters that pop up in each episode. They include Jared Morehu, Shepherd's Māori neighbour, Jean Marlowe, a kindly older woman who often engages in gossip after a murder and Frodo who bounces from job to job.

Brokenwood is a seemingly quiet country town, but a lot happens, and the murders are often not what they seem on the surface.

Each murder is usually linked to a specific place such as the historic Brokenwood empire cinema, the Brokenwood golf club, the Brokenwood health retreat or the Brokenwood savings bank. You get the idea!

Within each episode, there are normally around three or four main suspects, but as with all good detective dramas, the twists keep coming as the truth emerges in each tricky case.

The Brokenwood Mysteries Trailer

Is The Brokenwood Mysteries Worth Watching?

This is very biased, but I absolutely LOVE this show. In fact, I love it so much that having watched all eight seasons; I rewatched them.

So what is it about the show that makes it so addictive?

Here's the thing. All the characters are completely normal. They look normal, dress normal, act normal.

Forget highly charged car chases, shoot-outs, serial killers, and over-the-top acting. Here, everything is downplayed, and individual crimes are isolated events that present their own puzzle, ripe for solving.

The Brokenwood Mysteries is each to watch, highly entertaining and is fun to play along with as you guess the killer.

The characters evolve, the banter between them is hilarious, and with 36 episodes to delve into, you won't be sorry you tuned in.

Where To Watch The Brokenwood Mysteries?

That question can only be answered depending on where you live in the world.

However, there is definitely ONE channel where you can stream The Brokenwood Mysteries, no matter where you are, and that is ACORN.

To get ACORN, you can subscribe to it via Amazon, which usually costs around $5/£5 per month.

Plus, it is literally the home of murder mysteries, so there is plenty of additional content to watch on the channel.

On tv, here is where you can watch the show:

France – France 3

Australia on 13th Street and 9Gem

United States and Canada on Acorn TV and on Ovation (American TV channel)

United Kingdom and Ireland on the Drama Channel

Bulgaria by Fox Crime Bulgaria

Finland on YLE

Italy on Giallo

Germany on Das Erste

Belgium on één

Czech Republic on Prima

Where Is The Brokenwood Mysteries Filmed?

The fictional town of Brokenwood is located about 20 kilometres from the coast in a farming area.

It was largely written and filmed in small towns immediately to the north of Auckland.

The real-life town of Warkworth doubles as Brokenwood, and the Police Station used to be the Helensville Post Office.

In the episode ‘Sour Grapes', it is mentioned that it takes two and a half hours by road to get from Brokenwood to Auckland.

Cast Of The Show

Neill Rea as Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd, who decided to settle down in Brokenwood for a more peaceful life.

Fern Sutherland as Detective Kristin Sims, a cynical and intelligent young woman whose inability to make coffee is a running joke throughout the show.

Nic Sampson as Detective Constable Sam Breen, a young officer who often has embarrassing or awkward visits with suspects.

Jarod Rawiri as Detective Constable Daniel Chalmers, who replaces Breen after he moves to the Solomon Islands.

Cristina Ionda as Dr. Gina Kadinsky, the medical examiner and highly eccentric Russian woman who flirts outrageously with Mike Shepherd.

Elizabeth McRae as Mrs. Jean Marlowe.

Pana Hema Taylor as Jared Morehu, Mike's Māori neighbour.

Colin Moy as Simon Hughes: area police commander and close friend of DSS Shepherd.

Karl Willetts as Frankie “Frodo” Oades who starts his own coffee truck.

Jason Hoyte as Ray Neilson, local businessman and owner of the local pub The Frog and Cheetah.

Tracy Lee Gray as Trudy Neilson, Ray's sister and co-proprietor of the Frog and Cheetah.