/refers to Seasons 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 thousands 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...
PS Seasons 3-10 are still pleasant, including with several characters reappearing in other circumstances and functions. That is why it is recommended to watch seasons and episodes in sequence although one has to dedicate some time and energy - the net duration of an episode is approx. 1.5 hours...
