The Brokenwood Mysteries: Series 7

Very entertaining I watch Brokenwood now from 1 to 7 twice and I wish they would have more. The DVD I received is in very good shape and I had absolutely no problem playing it! If you watch it I hope you enjoyed as much as I do!

A really fun/great series that we discovered this summer. Hoping for more in the series. The stars are so likeable and the stories good, not too serious.

It's all in the headline. I binged Broadchurch, Mare of Easttown, the Swedish versions of Bron/Broen and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, etc. As a school teacher and amateur "detective", I gave this one a shot because it was recommended and it was a gleeful surprise because it brought back the cases that I had watched before, but this show added a dose of humor and tropical scenery (New Zealand!). Instead of a case lasting for an entire series, cases occur each episode, similar to Law & Order. Had to pay per episode / series for this one but I think it was worth it. The first two seasons had cases that were more legit - the latter seasons had cases that were less so; but I still enjoyed watching 'til the end because of the investment I had in the characters, even if some of the plot details seemed a liitttle far-fetched. Still, I recommend this one if you are interested in crime / detective shows, especially because it has a nice dose of comedy relief embedded and the New Zealand landscape.

This is the first time I've had this happen to me but the "new" Brokenwood mysteries, series 7 has an episode that is actually old--the first episode, by the way, entitled "The Garotte and the Vinklebraun"--what a ridiculous title. I noticed this fact shortly into the episode. I mean, I would rather the series have one less episode than advertise the series as being "new" which as far as this episode goes is not.The episodes aren't horrible but most lack atmosphere and mood.A big bummer was the parting of ways of actor Nic Sampson who plays the character Detective Constable Sam Breen. Wow--that really stinks. This guy is the funniest/wittiest of the characters in the series and now he's gone. Not good. He's been replaced by the actor Jarod Rawiri who is okay but doesn't have Pana's character and personality. Let's give him some time, though.Let's take a look at the other characters: Neill Rhea as the lead who plays Mike Shepherd is solid and believable, as usual. Fern Sutherland, who plays the character Kristin Sims, is her usual sarcastic and snarky self and at times is a bit bitchy. Not sure why she was cast in this role, to be honest.What happened to Pana Hema Taylor, by the way, who has disappeared and played Jared Morehu? Who knows...He was in none of the episodes in this series. Is he gone for good? If so, that's not a good sign as he also was an interesting character in the series.Thank God Cristina Serban Ionda is still in the series. She plays Dr. Gina Kadinsky and is to me one of the highlights of the series. Too bad Mike Shepherd doesn't think she's suitable romantically because I think she's got great presence and is also very attractive. In fact, it's a bit of a turn-off for audiences to see his character rather rudely rebuff Dr. Gina's advances. He doesn't know what he's missing! (funny).Okay, that's about it.This review would be higher for the 2 reasons explained above--1) passing off an old episode as "new" is almost unforgiveable and frankly, false advertising and 2) the lack of mood/atmosphere in most of this series. To be honest, though, the plots are fairly intricate and it's obvious the writing is at a high level.

All the shows are very involved, good characters and pretty funny much of the time.

Good addition to our collection.

Have loved the show since it's beginning.All the characters (including the minor ones) are great.But I do think they made a big mistake getting rid of Breen.Don't know why he was written out but I for one, am greatly disappointed.I like the new guy, but Breen's exit was too short and just kind of a "oh by the way, see ya" afterthought.His character deserved a better exit than that!And as others have said, there seems to be less good music in this season.Which I suppose is alright because trying to find cd's of these artists songs is darn near impossible - most of them seem to be out of print or your paying a lot because they are imports (if you can find them)The series had the first two seasons of the music available on cd - since then -nothing.That's really irritating (I give the marketing department one star for that effort.)

If you like BBC television, try this series. Though it is based in Australia, it still has that BBC quality of writing and dialogue. I have all of the series and would suggest if you are thinking about this program, start with series 1. Series 7 will make more sense since their are interesting dynamics going on between the characters. One major player leaves the show, but it is still very well acted. Many of the crimes are not overly violent, which is a plus, but you get to see the scenery and catch-up up on how the police team solve crimes in a rather interesting way. I highly recommend The Brokenwood Mysteries.

I have watched the entire series and hope very much that it will continue. Series 7 was particularly good because there were 6 films rather than 4.There is almost a humorous angle to these stories, someone dying in a well being centre, a party goer speared with a fondu fork and a cookery writer finished off with a meat cleaver. But they are not overly gory. The idea of the eccentric Russian pathologist with a crush on the lead detective is inspired. Many characters, who have already appeared in a previous episode, re-appear in subsequent ones which is an intelligent element which we don't see in other murder mystery series.For those of us who live in Europe the New Zealand scenery and way of life is an added bonus.We lost Sam Breen at the beginning of the series but the changeover was pretty seamless and the new guy is excellent.Highly recommended for those who enjoy murder mysteries with a quirky difference.

I really enjoy detective series and this one has something unique about it. The first series was slow to get going but now I find it hard to wait for the next one to be released. There are some really great characters and I like the fact that the more minor ones return from time to time. Some of the episodes in earlier series were absolutely hilarious.It’s a shame that Sam has left the show but his replacement seems to be fitting in well. Two of my favourite characters are Neil Blume (or is it Bloom?) and Dennis Buchanan, both fine examples of the value added by those more minor characters I mentioned. I missed Neil in this last series and hope he will return. Oh, and I do hope the hapless undertaker makes another appearance too. Great value entertainment!

One of the very best series on the go just now. We think the latest series 7 is even better than the previous ones.The characters interact well and are all very personable, nice to see a new Maori man on the scene. Even the secondary characters are well rounded. Highly recommend. Sadly our other favourites: " the Mallorca Files" and "The Coroner" - both BBC series- only ran to 2 series each, for reasons known only to that fickle company. In these times something humorous, exciting with scenery pleasing to the eyes is a great bonus to all our lives.

Not sure why this has a "15" cert. It all seems fairly harmless to me - perhaps a "12"? I have all the series and love the "Australianess" of it. The 4 regulars work so well together, there is humour (the Russian lady is a joy) and quirky eccentric semi regulars keep popping up. Plenty of mystery and action of a none too violent kind. 5 of the 6 eps are very good, I did just feel ep 5 was a bit slow. Otherwise a great series with some lovely scenery as well. Recomended

Having thoroughly enjoyed the first 3 or 4 series I skipped a series following the reviews on here, and hoped that this series would be ok. Suddenly there's a change of cast and the plot seems less enjoyable than previously. What happened to Breen????? Did I miss something?Won't be watching any more, sadly.