The Kiwi show is marking a major milestone . This month the tenth season of hit TVNZ whodunnit series The Brokenwood Mysteries , famous for its guest stars, will mark its decade with murderous script turns by Anna Jullienne, Sophie Hambleton, Rima Te Wiata, Angela Bloomfield, Ben Porter, Jamie Irvine and country singer Tami Neilson. Tim Balme conceived the series that is viewed in over 150 countries and for a decade has served as head writer and producer.
A huge international fanbase is one of the keys for the show’s longevity which, outside of Shortland Street , is New Zealand’s longest-running scripted series. Balme tells Spy he is eternally grateful to the cast and crew who have worked on the 48 tele-features already created. “There’s been a huge amount of guest actors who have visited Brokenwood over 10 seasons,” says Balme.
“Some to pass through, some to die in a multitude of interesting ways and some to lay down roots - in the local prison.” Balme is particularly grateful to the series’ stars Fern Sutherland , Neill Rea, Jarod Rawiri and Cristina Ionda. For a decade Rea and Sutherland have played detectives Mike Shepherd and Kristin Sims for all 48 episodes, pipping Ionda who has played Russian pathologist Gina Kadinsky for 47.
Rawiri, replacing Nic Sampson in 2021, has marked up 21 as Detective Daniel Chalmers. Rea remembers himself and Sunderland sharing a bean bag and watching a rough cut of season one upstairs in the production office late one evenin.
