Best Zealand Movies & TV Shows

Isolated since the time of the dinosaurs, New Zealand’s wildlife has been left to its own devices, with surprising consequences. Its ancient forests are still stalked by predators from the Jurassic era. It’s also one of the most geologically active countries on earth. From Kiwis with their giant eggs, to forest-dwelling penguins and helicopter-riding sheep dogs, meet the astonishing creatures and resilient people who must rise to the challenges of their beautiful, dramatic and demanding home.

It follows Theo Richter, an Irish detective who teams with Kiwi cop Diana Huia to find a young Irish couple vanish from an infamous rural North Island New Zealand town. Amidst the search and a race against time, the pair have to contend with a community’s growing disquiet that the disappearances may be linked to a series of historical murders.

Descending is an exciting new weekly TV show now airing on Canada’s Outdoor Life Network, and featuring some stunning underwater video from around the world. Host Scott Wilson, from Brantford, Ontario, though fairly new to scuba, jumps right in to explore some of this planet’s “most remote locations” in the one-hour weekly show. Noting that so much of planet Earth is underwater and so few people get to see this realm firsthand, he said, “We knew it was important to shoot spectacular footage.” Wilson’s co-host is New Zealand diver Ellis Emmett, author, adventurer and friend. Emmett has penned five adventure books and is the owner of a New Zealand river rafting company. “I want people to be inspired, educated and enlightened, and have a laugh or two along the way,” he said. This year the hosts explore the underwater world on scuba, wearing full-face masks and dry suits. As post-production work continues on episodes scheduled to air in the coming weeks, they’re planning a switch to rebreathers, and even the occasional use of mixed gases in season two, officially not a go yet, but they’re hopeful! With government backing and the support of the Outdoor Life Network, Descending joins a long list of Canadian made underwater TV series that have found strong audience support.

Worzel Gummidge Down Under, adapted from the books written by Barbara Euphan Todd and the children's television programme produced and broadcast in the United Kingdom named Worzel Gummidge, starring Jon Pertwee. The story continued in New Zealand when Aunt Sally was sold to a Museum owner.

From epic landscapes and unforgettable culture, to the often trying times that come with international travel, Departures chronicles the unforgettable friendships, personal successes and sometimes crushing disappointments that befall travellers Scott Wilson and Justin Lukach on their journey. Departures is as much about the journey as it is the destination.

A group of vigilantes known informally as “The Boys” set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty.

Nitro Circus Live is a Reality television show. It follows Travis Pastrana and the Nitro Circus Crew as they perform live in Australia and New Zealand.

A unique celebration of one of Earth's most iconic birds, featuring all 18 species in footage from New Zealand, Cape Town, the Galapagos Islands and Antarctica.

Best friends Joel Dommett and Nish Kumar travel to locations across the globe to immerse themselves in the lives of the toughest, strongest, fittest people in the world.

Banshee is an American drama television series set in a small town in Pennsylvania Amish country and features an enigmatic ex-con posing as a murdered sheriff who imposes his own brand of justice while also cooking up plans that serve his own interests.

The trials and tribulations of a two man, digi-folk band who have moved from New Zealand to New York in the hope of forging a successful music career. So far they've managed to find a manager (whose "other" job is at the New Zealand Consulate), one fan (a married obsessive) and one friend (who owns the local pawn shop) -- but not much else.

Legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett and mercenary Fennec Shand must navigate the galaxy’s underworld when they return to the sands of Tatooine to stake their claim on the territory once ruled by Jabba the Hutt and his crime syndicate.

The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle—a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.

Vampire housemates try to cope with the complexities of modern life and show a newly turned hipster some of the perks of being undead.

Set against the backdrop of the stunning Marlborough Sounds in New Zealand, Maggie and Tom arrive to escape his oppressive family and start a business. When Tom disappears, buried secrets and family plots make paradise less than perfect.

On a holiday to Mt Tarawera, teenager Jenny finds an odd shard of metal. In this third episode of the kids sci-fi series she meets its owner: 'Drom' — a survivor of an alien mission to deactivate a planet-annihilating space gun (aka Tarawera itself). They find themselves under siege from a Predator-like 'Guardian' of the gun. If Drom and Jenny and local kids Tessa and Lloyd can't defeat the mechanoid, catastrophe is imminent! The South Pacific Pictures series found international sales and cult repute.

The White Shadow is a British drama film directed by Graham Cutts based on the novel "Children of Chance" by Michael Morton. Alfred Hitchcock worked on it as assistant director and also handled the writing, editing, and art direction. The film was long thought to be lost. In August 2011, it was announced that the first three reels of the six-reel picture had been found in a garden shed and donated to the NFPF. The film cans were mislabled Two Sisters and Unidentified American Film and only later identified. The film was restored by Park Road Studios and is now in the New Zealand Film Archive.

Catweazle is a British television series, created and written by Richard Carpenter which was produced and directed by Quentin Lawrence for London Weekend Television under the LWI banner, and screened in the UK on ITV in 1970. A second season in 1971 was directed by David Reid and David Lane. Both series had thirteen episodes each, with Geoffrey Bayldon playing the leading role. The series was broadcast in Ireland, Britain, Gibraltar, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Czechoslovakia, Nicaragua and Quebec. The first episode is available to view in full at the BFI Screenonline site.

Wisecracking mercenary Deadpool battles the evil and powerful Cable and other bad guys to save a boy's life.

In a seemingly quiet country town the newest resident, Detective Inspector Mike Shepherd, finds that murder lurks in even the most homely location.

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to as Captain Scarlet, is a 1960s British science-fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, John Read and Reg Hill. First broadcast on ATV Midlands from September 1967 to May 1968, it has since been transmitted in more than 40 other countries, including the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Characters are presented as marionette puppets alongside scale model sets and special effects in a filming technique that the Andersons termed "Supermarionation". This technology incorporated solenoid motors as a means of synchronising the puppet's lip movements with pre-recorded dialogue. Set in 2068, Captain Scarlet presents the hostilities between Earth and a race of Martians known as the Mysterons. After human astronauts attack their city on Mars, the vengeful Mysterons declare war on Earth, initiating a series of reprisals that are countered by Spectrum, a worldwide security organisation. Spectrum boasts the extraordinary abilities of its primary agent, Captain Scarlet. During the events of the pilot episode, Scarlet acquires the Mysteron healing power of "retro-metabolism" and is thereafter considered to be virtually "indestructible", being able to recover fully from injuries that would normally be fatal.

Three part series detailing the dangerous prehistoric creatures humans met as they explored the world for the first time.

Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.

A close examination of the Whakaari / White Island volcanic eruption of 2019 in which 22 lives were lost, the film viscerally recounts a day when ordinary people were called upon to do extraordinary things, placing this tragic event within the larger context of nature, resilience, and the power of our shared humanity.

Everest: Beyond the Limit is a Discovery Channel reality television series about yearly attempts to summit Mount Everest organized and led by New Zealander Russell Brice.

Extreme adventure reality competition with Bear Grylls, who challenges teams of two in the wild.

Di-Gata Defenders is a Canadian action/adventure, science fiction, fantasy animated television series created by Greg Collinson with Nerd Studios and Nelvana Entertainment. This show is rated C8 according to the Canadian TV Classification System. The series currently has 52 episodes and is airing the Ethos Saga as of Fall 2007. In North America, this show is aired on Teletoon in Canada and on Fox network's 4Kids TV block as of July 28, 2007. Internationally, the series airs on the Cartoon Network for Australia, Maori Television for New Zealand, the series also airs on the Astro Ceria for Malaysia, Hero TV for the Philippines starting November 3, 2006 and Jetix for the UK starting August 25, 2007 and Kix! for the UK starting September 29, 2008. It airs on Disney XD in The Netherlands. The series follows the travels and adventures of six teenage children, part of an organization called the Di-Gata Defenders. Their mission as heroes is to defend RaDos against evil factions.

Elizabeth I is a two-part 2005 British historical drama television miniseries directed by Tom Hooper, written by Nigel Williams, and starring Helen Mirren as Elizabeth I of England. The miniseries covers approximately the last 24 years of her nearly 45-year reign. Part 1 focuses on the final years of her relationship with the Earl of Leicester, played by Jeremy Irons. Part 2 focuses on her subsequent relationship with the Earl of Essex, played by Hugh Dancy. The series originally was broadcast in the United Kingdom in two two-hour segments on Channel 4. It later aired on HBO in the United States, CBC and TMN in Canada, ATV in Hong Kong, ABC in Australia, and TVNZ Television One in New Zealand. The series went on to win Emmy, Peabody, and Golden Globe Awards. The same year, Helen Mirren starred as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen, with which she dominated the award season.

Justice is an American legal drama produced by Jerry Bruckheimer that aired on Fox in the USA and CTV in Canada. The series also aired on Warner Channel in Latin America, Nine Network in Australia, and on TV2 In New Zealand. It first was broadcast on Wednesdays at 9:00 but, due to low ratings, it was rescheduled to Mondays at 9:00, in the hope viewers of the hit series Prison Break would stay tuned. On November 13, 2006, the show was put on hiatus, but two days later the network announced it was shifting it to Fridays at 8:00 to replace the canceled Vanished. Fourteen episodes of the series were ordered, of which 13 episodes were produced. Twelve of the episodes of Justice have aired in the United States with the final episode airing in Mexico, the UK and Germany.

Based on the autobiographical work of New Zealand writer Janet Frame, this production depicts the author at various stage of her life. Afflicted with mental and emotional issues, Frame grows up in an impoverished family and experiences numerous tragedies while still in her youth, including the deaths of two of her siblings. Portrayed as an adult by Kerry Fox, Frame finds acclaim for her writing while still in a mental institution, and her success helps her move on with her life.

Four sisters in New Zealand fall for four U.S. soldiers en route to the Pacific theater in WWII.

Paul (Macfadyen), a prize-winning war journalist, returns to his remote New Zealand hometown due to the death of his father, battle-scarred and world-weary. For the discontented sixteen-year-old Celia (Barclay) he opens up a world she has only dreamed of. She actively pursues a friendship with him, fascinated by his cynicism and experience of the world beyond her small-town existence. But many, including the members of both their families (Otto, Moy), frown upon the friendship and when Celia goes missing, Paul becomes the increasingly loathed and persecuted prime suspect in her disappearance. As the violent and urgent truth gradually emerges, Paul is forced to confront the family tragedy and betrayal that he ran from as a youth, and to face the grievous consequences of silence and secrecy that has surrounded his entire adult life.

Eyes is an ABC television series starring Tim Daly as Harlan Judd. Eyes follows the firm of Judd Risk Management which uses marginally legal means to investigate individuals and crimes where law enforcement would fall short. With the help of high-tech gadgets, Harlan Judd and his employees recover money for victims as well as investigate individuals for clients but still manage to keep plenty of secrets from one another. In May 2005, having rescheduled the sixth episode twice, ABC announced that they would not be airing the remaining episodes until June at the earliest. They later announced that it would not be picked up for a second season and that the remaining episodes would remain unaired. New Zealand television station TV2 picked up this show and aired the complete series, all twelve episodes, in the second half of 2005. These episodes appeared online via BitTorrent soon after. The show was also partially aired on Singapore television station Mediacorp Channel 5, with the pilot episode and episodes #106 to #112 being skipped. Episode #111 was an exception, and was aired as the fifth episode. The show was also aired in full on France cable television station Canal Jimmy in 2006. In the beginning of 2008 the show was aired in full on Polish television station TVN 7. The series was shown on the Nine Network in Australia in 2007.

A woman haunted by her past, Detective Robin Griffin, investigates complex and unsettling cases.

Kurt Vonnegut, the author of a collection of short stories called "Welcome to the Monkey House", hosts a series that displays dramatizations of several of his short stories. The anthology series aired on Showtime network from 1991 to 1993. The first three stories were produced as a television pilot in British Columbia, Canada, and broadcast together from 9:00–10:30pm on May 12, 1991. The later four were filmed and produced in New Zealand in 1992, as a co-production with South Pacific Pictures.

The Mole has had five seasons of its Australian version, with the latter two taking place overseas in New Caledonia and New Zealand respectively. It is a reality television program with a twist. Not only does it not contain a public vote, but one of the 'contestents' on the show is trying to do everything in his or her power to prevent the others from winning the money on offer. It is up to the real contestents to work out who this person is, and the one who knows the least about their identity, as calculated through a computer quiz, is eliminated from the show. But who is this traitor? Who is the saboteur? Who is the mole?

Rupert is an animated television series based on the Mary Tourtel character Rupert Bear, produced by Nelvana, Ellipse Programmé and TVS for the first season, with Scottish Television taken over control when TVS closed. Aired from 1991 to 1997 with 65 half-hour episodes produced. It was broadcast in syndication on YTV in Canada. In the United States, the show first aired on Nickelodeon before moving to CBS; repeats of the series came to Qubo's digital service in January 2007, and still airs there. The show was broadcast in the UK on CITV and has recently been re-airing on the satellite and cable channels Tiny Pop and KidsCo. In Australia, the show was broadcast on the ABC public broadcasting network and on TV2 in New Zealand as part of the Jason Gunn Show.

In the Antarctic, after an expedition with Dr. Davis McClaren, the sled dog trainer Jerry Shepherd has to leave the polar base with his colleagues due to the proximity of a heavy snow storm. He ties his dogs to be rescued after, but the mission is called-off and the dogs are left alone at their own fortune. For six months, Jerry tries to find a sponsor for a rescue mission.

Amy is only 13 years old when her mother is killed. She goes to Canada to live with her father, an eccentric inventor who she barely knows. Amy is miserable in her new life... until she discovers a nest of goose eggs that were abandoned when a local forest was torn down. The eggs hatch and Amy becomes "Mama Goose". When Winter comes, Amy, and her dad must find a way to lead the birds South….

A true nature lover, Dominic with his courageous cameraman Frank, travel across four continents to far-flung countries in search of the largest, weirdest and most intense creatures alive – all in an attempt to ease fears of these often misunderstood animals. Crawling through dark caves, sailing the Amazon River, surfing the Costa Rican coast, and immersing himself in local culture, customs and cuisine makes for an adrenaline pumping, wildly adventurous season. He will also be joined by his buddy Billy Boyd on a quest to New Zealand where they’ll search for the giant wetapunga and return to where it all began for the duo, Hobbiton, home of the Lord of the Rings world for a traditional Hangi feast.

Aladdin is an animated television series made by Walt Disney Television which aired from 1994 to 1995, based on the original 1992 feature. It was animated at the Slightly Offbeat Productions Studios in Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand. Coming on the heels of the direct-to-video sequel The Return of Jafar, the series picked up where that installment left off, with Aladdin now living in the palace, engaged to beautiful and spunky Princess Jasmine. "Al" and Jasmine went together into peril among sorcerers, monsters, thieves, and more. Monkey sidekick Abu, the animated Magic Carpet, and the fast-talking, shape-shifting Genie came along to help, as did sassy, complaining parrot Iago, formerly Jafar’s pet but now an antihero. Jafar, having previously been destroyed in the second movie, returns in only one episode which also serves as a crossover with Hercules: The Animated Series.

Vietnam War, 1966. Australia and New Zealand send troops to support the United States and South Vietnamese in their fight against the communist North. Soldiers are very young men, recruits and volunteers who have never been involved in a combat. On August 18th, members of Delta Company will face the true horror of a ruthless battle among the trees of a rubber plantation called Long Tân. They are barely a hundred. The enemy is a human wave ready to destroy them.

A documentary of the first successful expedition to the summit of Mount Everest. New Zealand's Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay climb Mount Everest in 1953.

The 19th-century tale of love, murder and revenge as men and women travel across the world to make their fortunes on the wild West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.

Inspired by the incredible events surrounding a treacherous attempt to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain, "Everest" documents the awe-inspiring journey of two different expeditions challenged beyond their limits by one of the fiercest snowstorms ever encountered by mankind. Their mettle tested by the harshest of elements found on the planet, the climbers will face nearly impossible obstacles as a lifelong obsession becomes a breathtaking struggle for survival.

Four years after Isla Nublar was destroyed, dinosaurs now live—and hunt—alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators ona planet they now share with history's most fearsome creatures.

During World War 2, a farmer in New Zealand murders seven people. The police, along with local Maori trackers, hunt him in the bush country.

The Tribe is a New Zealand/British post-apocalyptic fictional TV series primarily aimed at teenagers. It is set in a near-future in which all adults have been wiped out by a deadly virus, leaving the children of the world to fend for themselves. The show's focus is on an unnamed city inhabited by tribes of children and teenagers. It was primarily filmed in and around Wellington, New Zealand. The series was created by Raymond Thompson and Harry Duffin and was developed and produced by the Cloud 9 Screen Entertainment Group in conjunction with the UK's Channel 5. It has aired on over 40 broadcast networks around the world.

The owner of a quaint New Zealand yarn shop, Sophie Dale, gets her world flipped upside down after learning her top supplier of yarn, King Farms, is stopping production. Much to her surprise, the charming yet stuck-in-his-ways Samuel King has traveled all the way from New York to audit the business model of the farm. Desperate to keep her shop going, Sophie convinces Samuel to give her two weeks to learn the ropes of yarn spinning and raise enough money to buy the mill herself.

A drunken New Year's Eve hook-up becomes far more complicated for Jessie when she discovers her one night stand is actually a film star.