Season 9 of The Brokenwood Mysteries launched at the weekend on TVNZ.
This little slice of Kiwi murder-mstery now has a huge global audience, writer and producer Tim Balme says.
We first knew Balme as an actor, on TV series such as Shortland St, Mercy Peak, Outrageous Fortune and The Almighty Johnsons.
A decade ago, he became head writer and co-producer of The Brokenwood Mysteries.
Photo: Matt Klitscher
He had no experience in the murder-mystery genre, but that has proven to be no obstacle to success.
“I’ve been carrying this strange little town around in my head for 10 years and I’m still loving it,” he told Sunday Morning.
“As far as I know, no other New Zealand TV show apart from Shortland Street has run to 10 seasons.”
The show's success overseas took him by surprise, he says.
“That’s the phenomenal thing about it, for some zeitgeisty reason when it came out nearly 10 years ago now it caught the imagination of some overseas territories.
“First off was France and the French took a shine to it and dubbed it, it went on French TV3, on one of their main channels, and 3.5 million French people tuned in.”
Photo: South Pacific Pictures
Further international success followed, he says.
“It got translated into German and Italian and it’s all through Scandinavia - and because it was dubbed to the relevant languages, it’s just had this exponential growth.
“It’s played in 150 countries.”
Not many shows do that, he says, yet Brokenwood remains truly authentic to New Zealand.
“When we first started making the first season I was just making a show for New Zealanders, like all New Zealand shows we had New Zealand money and so we had a responsibility to local audience.”
That, coupled with the timeless murder mystery genre, has struck a chord overseas, he says.
Despite its success, he’s never been a big fan of the whodunnit.
“I’m probably the only guy in the world that has never seen Broadchurch, I’ve just tried to stay away from it all and make The Brokenwood Mysteries its own unique thing.”
Forty odd episodes in, Balme says the plot ideas keep on coming.
“It’s kind of a self-generative genre, I think the more you do it, the more ideas you have.”
Brokenwood is somewhat Tardis-like, he says.
“It may appear like a small town, but once you enter it, it’s as big as you need it to be.”
As to location, he says, Brokenwood is a bit like transplanting Masterton to the north of Auckland.
“Which is close to both coasts, rivers, mountains lakes, whatever you need Brokenwood, is right next door to it.”
It's so popular overseas that international visitors are figuring out locations and visiting the sights. A bit like “Brokenwooditon,” he says.
