The essential episodes of The Brokenwood Mysteries
Watch these 15 in order and you've got The Brokenwood Mysteries — each pick states its reason.
- 01
When two fishermen find the body of a local farmer in the river, Detective Inspector Mike Shepherd is sent to the small rural town of Brokenwood to investigate the death. Is this the suicide of a man guilty of his own wife's murder or is he the victim of foul play? As Mike uncovers a family's tragedies and secrets he also learns that Brokenwood is a place where shadows lurk just beneath the surface.
- 02
Four close friends go hunting in the bush on a stag trip. But the groom-to-be never comes back - he was shot through the head. Initially this would seem to be just another tragic hunting accident amidst picturesque New Zealand bush. The only problem is neither of the remaining two friends own up to pulling the trigger that fired the lethal bullet - yet all three had discharged their rifles - with no deer to prove it. The question is - who shot Hayden Renner? Was he mistaken for a real stag or was there something more sinister at play?
- 03
When a young cast member of The Brokenwood Theatre Society collapses and dies at the end of a performance of Hamlet, the initial belief is that it was from natural causes.However, Mike detects there is ‘something rotten in the state of Brokenwood' when he gets a whiff of a lethal poison.In doing so he uncovers a complex web of ego driven dissention amongst the troupe. Was Ben Faulkner expended to create opportunity for another young rising star? Or can his death be linked to the words of the Bard himself? And how did Jared end up playing the lead role?As Mike and his team investigate the hidden secrets of this curious group of thespians ‘To be or not to be' takes on a whole new meaning.
- 04
The Frog and Cheetah's publican, Ray Neilson, has branched into tourism with his ‘Lord of the Ringz Tours' tailored to non-English speaking tourists. But when Ray's wife Debbie is discovered dead under a giant foam spider in a supposed film location of Mirklewood things get ‘mirky'. Especially when Debbie's cause of death is revealed to be from New Zealand's only native venomous spider – the Katipo. But if it was, how did one spider administer ten times the lethal dose?Things don't look good for Ray or the nearby arachnologist, Chandra Singh. But then as DSS Mike Shepherd and his team investigate other local tourism operators, they find none of them are particularly sad about Debbie's demise. Her back room deals with the council have seen them banned from the coveted Brokenwood forest. Was her death karma or revenge? Regardless of motive it was definitely murder.
- 05
When Kristin, Breen, and Gina celebrate Mike's birthday with a picnic in Brokenwood Domain, they are witness to a fatal skydiving accident. To make matters worse, Kristin knows the victim – entrepreneur Andre Barrington, an ex-boyfriend who moved onto another woman – Grace Turner, an adrenalin junkie and fellow skydiver. As the investigation unfolds, an unsettling truth is revealed. Andre's parachute was never going to open as the cords were severed. Was it an elaborate suicide or was Grace having second thoughts about Andre? Then again – Andre's older brother Felix was tired of living in his shadow, and his mother Lorraine's maternal love verged on the side of sinister. Both of them were jumping with Andre too. And what about Andre's business partner Dean Young, who was less than impressed by Andre's work ethic? Mike and his team are forced to confront the old adage: ‘what goes up must come down'… but not always in the way you want.
- 06
It's the annual Brokenwood A&P show, time for that special kind of Kiwi carnival! Amidst the shearing displays, the ‘Calf Day' competition and wood chopping, is the usual assortment of fun rides and fairground attractions. The sun is shining on happy family entertainment and ever popular this year is the shonky old Ghost Train.But when the surly A&P boss Harold Wilbury takes the minute-long ride as a safety check he gets the fright of his life. Shunted in his carriage through the final curtain, Harold greets daylight wide-eyed and dead. He is quite literally gone in 60 seconds.When a man dies of fright surely there is no question of murder - it's just a case of bad luck. Then again how scary was the Ghost Train ride really? Curiously, Madame Magdalena in the Fortune Teller's tent predicted the tragedy. Was that coincidence or a way of adding credence to her credibility? The Ghost Train operator, Johnny Oades, swears it's nothing to do with him, but there is a question over falsified health and safety checks. And why is Daisy Rose the fairy princess so unhappy?
- 07
A suspicious suicide in Brokenwood Women's Prison leads Mike and the team to uncover a complex murder. And for Mike this one is personal — he knew the victim Corina Doyle from his days prior to Brokenwood.As Mike and the team investigate they're brought into contact with several familiar female convicts from the past: Trudy Neilson, Brenda White and Rayleen Hogg. They're all doing their time and all up to no good.And with Corina's passing new information surfaces about an old crime. A secret from her past that will answer a nagging question that Mike has carried for 8 years.However, for that secret to come out, Corina had to entrust it with someone and that someone wants Mike to do a deal.
- 08
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.
- 09
Mike and the team get a lesson in local history when the Brokenwood museum uncovers a dead body in the most unlikely of places.
- 10
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.
- 11
Brokenwood's Mexican "Day of the Dead" celebration seems like a great idea until an actual dead body becomes part of the festivities.
- 12
A local haunted house becomes a great deal more frightening when a teenager is found dead with a sickle through his neck.
- 13
While a visiting theatrical troupe puts on a nativity play at St. Judas, a precious holy relic goes missing, and the actor playing Jesus is killed.
- 14
When a man dressed as Santa is found dead on the side of the road, the team investigates. But after Gina examines the body and concludes the cause of death was a heart attack, potentially triggered by scrotal electrocution... foul play is suspected.
- 15
Young and charismatic priest Canon Zach Mantell shakes up Brokenwood's parish with his unconventional style. But when his wife dies in the church cemetery, Mike and Kristin find clues that point to a murder.
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He's smart, he's good looking, and he's got a great sense of humor.
