TVNZ+ is Aotearoa’s biggest free-to-stream local platform packed with fresh New Zealand series, massive shows from overseas, and heaps of gems to discover. No matter your tastes, there are plenty of shows to sink yourself into, with Liam Maguren highlighting 20 of the best TV shows on TVNZ+.
UPDATED: 6 NOVEMBER 2024
See also
* The best movies on TVNZ+
* All new movies & series on TVNZ+
* All new streaming movies & series
Ahikāroa (2018, six seasons)
WATCH ON TVNZ+This Māori bilingual series keeps going from strength to strength with each passing season. Focusing on city-based rangatahi, the show revolves around a wide cast of characters navigating modern careers, heartbreak, heart mend, and solid doses of partying.
The Adventures of Tumeke Space (2021, one season)
WATCH ON TVNZ+Aotearoa animation studio Mukpuddy channelled their love of Star Wars and Billy T James into this very pretty, very New Zealand sci-fi adventure series. Māori space hero Tumeke Space (Glen-Paul Waru), first seen in Mukpuddy’s own Barefoot Bandits, travels the galaxy in search of his missing Koro, picking up clues to his whereabouts while trying to avoid the unbearably fragile Pink Menace (who may or may not be loosely based on a real-life historical figure). Also features the voices of prominent Kiwi comedians Josh Thomson, Urzila Carlson and Billy T award-winner Kura Forrester.
After the Party (2023, one season)
WATCH ON TVNZ+The great Robyn Malcolm leads this morally complex six-part drama as a woman fighting to be believed after accusing her husband of a sex crime against her daughter’s teenage friend. Quickly making itself known as one of the best New Zealand series of the past few years, After the Party has been heralded as “gritty, wrenching and highly confronting” from The Spinoff, with Stuff praising the show for creating “a complex, complicated and sometimes confounding character, one that is most definitely not only not a mere victim, but will keep the viewer guessing…”
Bluey (2018, three seasons)
WATCH ON TVNZ+This award-winning, critically-lauded, Australian force of nature transcends its made-for-preschoolers trappings to become the most-watched series ever on Aussie platform iView. Yes, it’s a bright and colourful talking animal show about a child doing child things, but allow it to creep in and you’ll likely be gripped by its gentle and truthful observations on everyday family life. Take it from me: a childless man who’s engaged with multiple dad friends about Bluey‘s potent power.
Boiling Point (2023, one season)
WATCH ON TVNZ+A year before The Bear ignited everyone’s appetite for stress-inducing culinary drama, director Philip Barantini achieved a similar feat with his fantastic 2021 British film Boiling Point—done in one actual continuous shot. Boiling Point the series takes place months after the events of the movie, and if quotes like “it’s a knife-edge,” (Independent) and “almost too stressful to enjoy,” (Empire Magazine) are anything to go by, it lives up to being both a successor to the BAFTA-nominated feature and a hearty rival to its American peer.
The Casketeers (2018, six seasons)
WATCH ON TVNZ+A humble international hit, this Aotearoa docuseries follows the heartwarming end-of-life stories revolving around professional Onehunga funeral coordinators Francis and Kaiora Tipene. Largely avoiding the dreariness of its subject matter, the show’s powered by the charm of the endlessly likeable Tipenes as they go through the everyday dealings and quirks of the business. A funny, fascinating, and touching series about the people who make death and grief a little easier.
Creamerie (2021, two seasons)
WATCH ON TVNZ+Years after a virus supposedly kills all men on Earth, a particular part of rural New Zealand descends into wellness hell in this comedically dark dystopian series. Reuniting with Friday Night Bites stars Ally Xue, Perlina Lau and JJ Fong, Roseanne Liang (Shadow in the Cloud) crafts a distinctive and delightfully disturbing world that owes a lot to Tandi Wright’s superbly savage performance as a manipulative, yoga-posing deity wannabe.
The Good Lord Bird (2020, one season)
WATCH ON TVNZ+“[Ethan] Hawke in peak form, and wastes little time in dialling [it] up to 11.” That’s what we said about this standout seven-part pre-Civil War Western back when it first premiered in Aotearoa. Also created by the four-time Oscar-nominee, the show adapts James McBridge’s National Book Award-winning story of an enslaved teenager (Joshua Caleb Johnson-Lionel) who joins abolitionist John Brown’s (Hawke) ragtag crew hoping to initiate a slave revolt.
Hacks (2021, one season)
WATCH ON TVNZ+When this wickedly funny series first aired, there was no doubt Jean Smart would land an Emmy for her role as Deborah Vance, a legendary Vegas comedian reluctantly paired with disgruntled twentysomething writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder). While their relationship slowly transforms from antagonistic to genuine mentorship, you’re really in it for the ruthless digs between Deborah and Ava.
Interview with the Vampire (2022, two seasons)
WATCH ON TVNZ+In the latest version of the classic Anne Rice novel, Jacob Anderson (Game of Thrones) and Sam Reid (’71) take the baton from Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, who originally played Louis and Lestat in the 1994 Oscar-nominated film. More of a refreshing than a retelling, this new version of the epic tale of love and immortality casts its eye on 1900s New Orleans and brings with it a “soapy, gothic fairy tale full of sensuality, gore, and incredible performances.” (Decider)
PEN15 (2019, two seasons)
WATCH ON TVNZ+Actual grown adult women Maya Erskine (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) and Anna Konkle (The Afterparty) play early teen versions of themselves in this comedy series that immediately earns a chuckle from the premise alone. Surrounded by proper 13-year-olds, the absurdist Emmy-nominee delights in maximising the awkwardness of teenage life in the early 2000s, with Erskine and Konkle valiantly making themselves the butts of the jokes.
Planet Earth III (2023)
WATCH ON TVNZ+Sir David Attenborough, the one true king of nature documentaries, guides us through this third iteration of the groundbreaking BBC series. With a clear-eyed focus on the climate crisis, this season blends the perilous dangers affecting all areas of the world with the eye-widening wonderment of the animal kingdom. It’s a sobering take-your-medicine edition of the series that arguably stands as the most important of the three seasons.
Poker Face (2022, one season)
WATCH ON TVNZ+Oscar-nominated Knives Out writer-director Rian Johnson let his love for Columbo loose with this addictive mystery-of-the-week series. Emmy-nominee Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll) leads the series as a woman who uses a very particular skill—the ability to sniff out a lie—to catch killers who may or may not be played one of the many guest stars including Academy Award-calibre actors Adrian Brody, Hong Chau, Chloë Sevigny, and Nick Nolte alongside Emmy-nominees Benjamin Bratt, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ron Perlman.
Sherwood (2022, two seasons)
WATCH ON TVNZ+A seemingly straightforward murder investigation explodes into a rattling, eras-spanning piece on a broken community in this exquisite, emotionally-enthralling British series. Featuring a sublime ensemble cast, headlined by David Morrissey (The Walking Dead) and Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread), Sherwood is less about the Prince of Thieves and more about a small town still unable to heal from the Miners’ Strike that divided them during Margaret Thatcher’s reign.
Starstruck (2021, three seasons)
WATCH ON TVNZ+Rose Matafeo (Baby Done) leads this romantic comedy series as a young woman who, after a bold move to London, finds herself juggling jobs, struggling with rent, and generally losing purpose in life. Then she finds out her one-night stand is actually a massive movie star. Created by Matafeo and fellow Aotearoa comedian Alice Snedden, the pair merges painfully relatable comedy in Millenial angst with sterling observations of the vapidness of fame. And unlike a lot of romcoms, the actual romance feels like it comes from the heart, moulded by wisdom.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022, one season)
WATCH ON TVNZ+Trekkies have been spoiled for choice over the past few years (Picard, Discovery, Lower Decks, Prodigy—it’s a lot). So you wouldn’t think there’d be much room for 2022’s Strange New Worlds, a prequel series centred on the Enterprise one whole decade before Captain Kirk took the wheel. However, this back-to-basics series might just be the most embraced Trek show of the new batch, with Slash Film praising it as “the best Star Trek show in decades” and Paste declaring “this is the trekkiest Star Trek show that’s ever trekked.” If you’ve never Trekked before, this might be the perfect place to start.
Tales of Nai Nai (2019, two seasons)
WATCH ON TVNZ+This very fun family series follows twin siblings in New Zealand who, along with their never-not-hungry pet dog Baobao, travel the Eastern world via their grandmother’s magical purse. Packed with earnest humour and Eastern history, this series from Becky Kuek and Mukpuddy makes for a very breezy and completely loveable all-ages adventure.
Teacup (2024, one season)
WATCH ON TVNZ+All is well for a group in rural Georgia. That is, until they find themselves mysteriously caged in and forced into a survival situation they cannot fully comprehend. Produced by horror aficionado James Wan and inspired by Robert R. McCammon’s novel Stinger, this series has earned dollops of praise from two trustworthy writers—author Stephen King and Flicks’ own Luke Buckmaster—who agree it’s all killer, no filler.
Taskmaster (2015, seventeen seasons)
WATCH ON TVNZ+This British comedy phenomenon fuses the competitive spirit of game shows with the unpredictable/embarrassing nature of improv. Ruthless host Greg Davies and creator Alex Horne make for a great dominant-subordinate duo as they test five comedians (a new group per season) with a series of incredibly absurd tasks, then mercilessly grill their performance. The consistently hilarious formula’s proven to be so successful, it holds different iterations in numerous countries—including the very good Taskmaster NZ and Taskmaster AU, also streaming on TVNZ+.
Wellington Paranormal (2018, four seasons)
WATCH ON TVNZ+The seminal 2014 comedy flick from Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement didn’t spawn just one great spinoff series (re: the very good FX show) but two. Expanding on their bit roles from the movie, Mike Minogue and Karen O’Leary lead the series as not-too-phased police officers tasked with investigating paranormal phenomena including but not limited to goat-worshipping cults, an interdimensional BBQ vortex, and ghost rugby fans.
