Scripted content in 2025-26

We celebrate the art of Scripted storytelling, which has engaged audiences locally and globally with quality drama and comedy series this year.

Crackhead
Crackhead, Warner Bros. Int. TV Production NZ

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Telling our stories

Scripted content engages and entertains audiences with a wide range of stories – featuring dramatic storylines, Kiwi humour, stunning landscapes of Aotearoa, original music and familiar faces along with emerging talent.

In 2025-26 we invested $33.6m in Scripted content. This included co-investment in 10 projects that qualified for the NZ Screen Production Rebate (NZSPR), that also attracted $17.1m in third party investment. Investing alongside the NZSPR allows us to stretch NZ On Air funds further, and support projects with more ambition, along with international distribution plans.

Some of the stories audiences have enjoyed this year are featured here.

By the numbers

$33.6M

Scripted content investment

$17.1m

Additional third-party revenue

260,000

Average linear audience per episode for Blue Murder Motel, the highest rating drama

146,667

Average streams per episode for Dead Ahead, the highest rating drama on demand

Success stories

Crackhead

Holly Shervey, the creator and star of Crackhead drew on her own past of trauma, pain and addiction for the dark comedy series set inside a ‘luxury’ clinic. The Warner Brothers International TV Production screened here on Three and ThreeNow and in Australia on HBO Max.

The story-telling interweaves Kiwi humour and deep, dark moments as Frankie Jones navigates group therapy with a bunch of other ‘misfits’. It was declared by The Spinoff to be “the best New Zealand TV show this year”.

Crackhead

Crackhead, Warner Bros. Int. TV Production NZ

There’s a raw emotional honesty to it that will resonate with many viewers, with this brilliantly-made New Zealand show determined to both challenge and surprise its audience. What a treat it is to watch – there’s nothing predictable about Frankie Jones, and I cannot wait to find out where she ends up.
Tara Ward’s review for The Spinoff

Crackhead was the second most streamed show on ThreeNow this year with a total of 510,960 streams across the eight episodes.

Funded in July 2024 $3,197,306. Released in March 2026.

Blue Murder Motel

With a star-studded New Zealand cast led by Michala Banas, alongside Australian actor Brett Tucker, Blue Murder Motel was the highest rating funded drama this year on local linear television (TVNZ 1). It has also had strong streaming performance ranking fifth overall in our Top 10 streamed shows.

Filmed on the Hibiscus coast, the show centers on the story of two retired Australian cops who’ve traded in their badges to run a beachside motel in New Zealand - but crime seems to follow them.

Made by Great Southern TV, Blue Murder Motel attracted the NZSPR and has international distribution across key English-language markets, including Australia, the United States, Canada and the UK, along with nominations for a Rose d'Or Award and a C21 International Drama Award.

With such a strong debut, Blue Murder Motel has been commissioned for a second season.

Blue Murder Motel

Blue Murder Motel, Blue Murder Production

Small Town Scandal

Comedian Tom Sainsbury’s podcast parody was brought to the small screen with a topflight cast including Tom, Morgana O’Reilly, Rose Matafeo and the UK’s beloved Felicity Kendal.

Filmed around Lower Hutt, the show is packed full of Kiwi-isms, quirks and laughs blending the eccentricities of rural New Zealand life with our obsession with true crime.

Tom Sainsbury not only starred in but also was executive producer on Small Town Scandal alongside Carthew Neal; it was produced by Georgina Conder and directed by Ghazaleh Gol and Calvin Sang.

Sainsbury clearly enjoyed the experience, in particular working alongside his good friend Morgana O’Reilly.

Small Town Scandal behind the scenes

Small Town Scandal, Miss Scandal Limited

“Working with her ... was deliciously naughty. All her most wacky takes were the ones that ended up in the edit. I thought she’d be too busy. I’m like ‘she’s just done White Lotus. She doesn’t want to come and live in Lower Hutt with me for a couple of months’,” Sainsbury said.
Reporting by Andre Chumko, The Post

The show has screened on Sky Open, Neon and ThreeNow in New Zealand, as well as in Australia on the ABC and in the UK on the BBC.

Funded in July 2024, $2,964,454. Released in February 2026.

Dead Ahead

The highest rating funded show on streaming in New Zealand this year, Dead Ahead is now being enjoyed on Netflix, taking authentic Māori storytelling to a global stage. Dead Ahead attracted an average of 146,667 streams per episode across the six-episode series on TVNZ + before its Netflix launch in June 2026.

The bilingual comedy-drama, co-funded with Te Māngai Pāho follows a high-powered lawyer, played by Miriama Smith, who accidentally unleashes her chaotic tūpuna, forcing the living and the dead to navigate their shared legacy.

It has delighted audiences, securing a second season. 

Dead Ahead

Dead Ahead, Hi Mama

Funded April 2024, $1,139,001. Launched June 2025.

Season 2, funded $1,449,496 November 2025.

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