Brokenwood - Murder in New Zealand - Season 3 - DVD

Content: Detective Sergeant Mike Shepherd (Neill Rea) has settled into the small town of Brokenwood pretty well by now - even if he's still pushed to his limits sometimes (like when he has to swap the comfy seat of his beloved car for a horse saddle). He and his partner DC Kristin Sims (Fern Sutherland) have long since become a well-rehearsed team who can solve any case, no matter how absurd. Like when a corpse wrapped in artificial spider webs is found on a "Lord of the Rings" fan tour, when the wrong body suddenly plops out of the coffin at a famous writer's funeral, or when Brokenwood's ever-popular Santa Claus is found murdered.

The third season of "Brokenwood - Murder in New Zealand" starts with a very amusing highlight for all "Lord of the Rings" fans. Because the viewers are taken right at the beginning on a not officially licensed "Lord of the Ringz" (!) Tour, on which unsuspecting tourists are presented alleged locations of the film series. Not only is this extremely amusing, but it also culminates in the first unusual death of these new episodes. As this episode progresses, it becomes clear where the strengths of this crime series lie: On the one hand, there is a lot of humor, which can also sometimes turn out a little macabre (such as the ringtone of an undertaker in episode 2), but on the other hand, serious topics such as nature and animal protection are treated.

In addition, the criminal cases - even if they are quite conventionally structured at the core - are always pleasingly cleverly constructed at the end, so that there are always small surprises. The makers always manage skillfully to lift the stories to a personal level, so that the characters can always develop a little. Be it that you learn which colleague from Mike's team is hellishly afraid of spiders or learn how the investigators feel about Christmas and the traditions associated with it.

"Brokenwood - Murder in New Zealand" is simply damn good entertainment for anyone who loves crime shows where things get exciting, but also not always beery serious. Three of the four feature-length episodes clearly get a grade of 1, while the slightly weaker episode about fanatical classic car enthusiasts has to settle for a more than solid 2. All in all, this results in only one possible conclusion: absolutely worth watching!

Image + Sound: It is the landscape of New Zealand that gives this series a very special touch. And this comes across well on the DVD thanks to a coherent colour scheme. The image sharpness is on a good TV level, although there are slight blurs to be discovered here and there. These are especially noticeable in darker sequences and interior shots. The Dolby Digital 2.0 mix is again restrained overall in these episodes, but the dialogue sounds powerful, and the music and decent background noise are well matched. Good!

Extras: Unlike the previous seasons, there are unfortunately no extras this time. Too bad.

Conclusion: The third season of the New Zealand crime series "Brokenwood - Murder in New Zealand" again offers a successful mix of humor (which sometimes turns out deliciously macabre), cleverly constructed criminal cases and a lot of New Zealand flair. The four new episodes in feature length underline very well the strengths of this series, which has already brought it to six seasons in its home country. So fans in Germany can look forward to plenty more entertaining investigations from New Zealand. The DVDs of the third season are technically on a good TV level, unfortunately there is no bonus material this time. Nevertheless: All in all absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp