The BEST episodes written by Timothy Balme
#1 - Bad Things Happen
The Almighty Johnsons - Season 1 - Episode 7
Two nights out drinking lead to two different forms of temptation - both of which could end very badly for the parties concerned.
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#5 - Dog Day Morning
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 7 - Episode 3
When four masked men attempt to rob the Brokenwood Savings Bank, it's up to Mike and the team to determine which one of them pulled the trigger and killed the bank manager.
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#7 - Think Yourself a Baby
Outrageous Fortune - Season 2 - Episode 2
Van's sperm becomes the stuff of legend and Munter takes the piss; Hoochie Mama turns it all the way up to 11; and Pascalle gets herself a bloke.
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#8 - Shall We to the Court?
Outrageous Fortune - Season 2 - Episode 5
Jethro puts himself on the stand as Van becomes Sparky's private fantasy; a Hoochie Mama fantasy gets a man literally crotchless; and Pascalle fantasises about Hayden's marital intentions.
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#9 - The Scarecrow
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 4 - Episode 3
Philip Henderson stands next to an impressive scarecrow amidst a field of damaged vegetation. His whole crop has failed. The scarecrow may have kept the birds away but this catastrophe is something bigger. Angered and distraught, he confronts his neighbour, the cantankerous Doug Randall, and accuses him of spray drift. Doug is having none of it and an ugly altercation ensues. The following day Philip is discovered dead in his field – the victim of an obscure poison. Suspicion falls on Doug and his new wife, the strident and doggedly loyal Trudy Neilson, whom it was well known had ongoing tensions with Philip over an unpaid bar tab at her pub, The Toad and Lion. But as Mike and the team dig further into the mystery, more suspects come into play. Philip’s other neighbour is the cagey Tamati Taylor, who is less than forthcoming, but as it transpires Philip had a twin brother. Why does he seem remarkably unmoved by the death of his sibling? Following a hunch, Kristin turns attention to the little organic café in town called the Sage Locust and her friend, the owner Dahlia Freyberg. Philip was one of her suppliers – but a supplier of what? And what exactly was in the salad Philip ate when he last visited the Sage Locust? And if the scarecrow was meant to frighten the birds why have all the bees disappeared too?
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#10 - Over Her Dead Body
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 3 - Episode 2
Brokenwood is in mourning as beloved local poet Declan O’Grady is being farewelled at St Judas Church after being struck down by cancer. But things go from bad to worse when his coffin accidentally falls from the hearse revealing that the corpse inside is not Declan but a young woman identifiable only by a notable scarlet tattoo.
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#11 - Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 7 - Episode 6
When Mike mysteriously leaves Brokenwood on other police business, Kristin is left to lead the investigation into a 1970s party where several party-goers wind up dead.
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#12 - Three Coins in a Fountain
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 8 - Episode 4
When the world champion of the curious sport of Spoofing is found dead in a fountain, the Brokenwood detectives must determine who was willing to commit murder in order to win at all costs.
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#14 - A Merry Bloody Christmas
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 3 - Episode 4
With December approaching Brokenwood is alive and well with Christmas spirit. That is until a gruesome sight confronts Mike and his team; Santa Claus with his throat slit. Or as Mike insists – ‘not Santa, but a man dressed in a Santa suit’. The man is in fact the much-loved local Mayor, Evan Whitestone, who dresses as Santa every year for the Christmas parade. But with local elections looming, attention turns to his four rivals for the mayoral chains. Each of them has an axe to grind with Evan or, in this case - a cut throat razor.
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#15 - Bride Not To Be
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 5 - Episode 2
The Cream Boat is a charming vessel that chugs its way up the scenic Brokenwood waterways. It carries sightseers and Christmas parties and often Hen Parties. Professional tennis player, Ophelia (Fee) Marley, is one such lucky Hen. Her Bridesmaids have organized a big day migrating from the township via the Cream Boat to the Tidal View Lodge where they overnight. The following morning the Cream Boat returns to pick up the girls, but as the captain is about to dock a macabre and ethereal sight greets him. Fee is floating semi-submerged downstream in her wedding dress and veil. At first it may seem a tragic drowning; a result perhaps of too much revelry. But Gina reveals she was in fact dead before she entered the river. Where was Fee’s fiancé the night of the murder? And why is Best Man Darryn so reluctant to co-operate? Is he covering for his mate or is it something else entirely? Darryn’s reticence is partially explained by the fact that he is deaf. Kristin’s knowledge of ‘sign’ comes in handy as the team works to solve this mystery.
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#16 - Stone Cold Dead
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 4 - Episode 2
Charity Highmore-Browne is the owner and curator of Brokenwood's Historic Village. A stickler for all things Victorian, Charity lives in a time warp. Her sudden death by an arrow brings Mike and his team into the realm of New Zealand's colonial past as they deal with a blacksmith, a missionary and the local postmaster. Not to be overlooked is Charity's sister who once represented the country at the Olympics, missing out on a bronze medal in archery. As the investigation brings up questions about Charity's lifestyle and the mysterious disappearance of her husband seven years earlier, the team are faced with the possibility that Brokenwood is dealing with its first serial killer. Things are complicated further when Mike is forced out of the office due to a health scare and Kristin takes charge of the case. But can Mike truly hand over the reins?
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#17 - Hunting the Stag
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 1 - Episode 4
Four close friends go hunting in the bush on a stag trip. But the groom-to-be never comes back – he was shot through the head. Initially this would seem to be just another tragic hunting accident amidst picturesque New Zealand bush. The only problem is none of the remaining three friends own up to pulling the trigger that fired the lethal bullet - yet all three had discharged their rifles – with no deer to prove it. The question is – who shot Hayden Renner? Was he mistaken for a real stag or was there something more sinister at play?
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#18 - From the Cradle to the Grave
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 8 - Episode 1
Mike Shepherd and the team get a lesson in local history when the Brokenwood museum uncovers a dead body in the most unlikely of places.
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#19 - The Dark Angel
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 5 - Episode 4
On the edge of Brokenwood sits an abandoned mental health facility, an asylum named Brokenwood Downes. Now derelict, the spooky buildings provide a great hideout for local teenagers. But one young couple freak-out when they stumble upon the body of an elderly man in the old hospital wing strapped to a gurney with electrodes connected to his temples. It would seem he was the victim of electrocution by Electroconvulsive Therapy. The victim is Jakob Deschler who used to be the Superintendent of the asylum when it closed in 2011. Recently released from jail for charges of torture it appears that his murder was a revenge for his past cruelty. Mike and the team focus on a group of ex-patients of Brokenwood Downes. The few that have remained in the area are an eclectic bunch of misfits still struggling to reintegrate into the mainstream of society. However, several of them are under the care of local psychotherapist, Amy Curnow whose expertise enables Mike to get a greater insight into the minds of these unique characters. She is also has a knack to get Mike to open up about some more personal things about himself. Could it be that our hero is taking a shine to Amy? Mike’s interrogation skills will be pitted against the smarts of a crack psychologist. Will it be a case of Mike finally meeting his match – in more ways than one
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#21 - Four Fires and a Funeral
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 8 - Episode 6
The charred remains of a body are discovered in the burned-out remnants of a rural shed, but no one lived there, and no one was meant to be there at all; this is the third in a run of accidental deaths, all attended by the Brokenwood Fire Brigade.
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#22 - The Garotte and the Vinklebraun
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 7 - Episode 1
Mike and his team are thrust into a world of antiquities when a TV crew from the hit series All Things Old and Beautiful comes to town, and one of the hosts is murdered.
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#23 - Sour Grapes
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 1 - Episode 2
With Brokenwood touted for its burgeoning merlot, the annual wine show is a major event. Having bought a 10-acre block with maturing grapes, no one is looking forward to it more than DI Mike Shepherd. But when a guest judge and wine critic is found dead, drowned inside a fermenting vat, the show takes second place to the murder investigation.
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#24 - Blood Pink
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 2 - Episode 4
Holly Collins is not only DSS Mike Shepherd's favourite country musician she's also playing in Brokenwood. Unfortunately it turns out to be her final gig. When she is found electrocuted it appears to be a rock'n'roll suicide. But then again it could have been a drunken accident - or, as Mike suspects, it is perhaps something less obvious. With a careless note scrawled in lipstick the only clue, Mike has to set aside his personal interest in the victim and strike the right note with Holly's dysfunctional band members: Slim Fingers, Waylon Strings and Jesse James. But the more he finds out, the more he needs to know and the less he likes what he learns.
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#25 - Tontine
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 5 - Episode 3
Cycling is very de rigour around the globe and no less in Brokenwood. When one such MAMIL (Middle Aged Man In Lycra) Lester Nyman reaches the top of a local mountain after a gruelling ride and suffers a massive coronary it doesn’t seem suspicious. But then Gina reveals his toxicology showed astronomical levels of caffeine in his system and Mike starts to look more closely. It transpires Lester was one of ten people inheriting shares in a substantial local farm. The will, left by Lester’s father Karl, is legally known as a Tontine. Curiously four members of this Tontine have recently died from natural causes or unfortunate accidents and as such their shares are absorbed by the remaining members. Lester’s brother Trevor is helpful in their enquiries but not so much his lawyer Madison Mathers. She sees her professional responsibility to execute the will to the best of her ability making sure everyone gets their fair share. And why is Reverend Greene part of the tontine? It was no secret Karl didn’t believe in the church. Was it simply that he wanted to goad the good Reverend into putting capitalist values above his service to the Lord? The further Mike and his team delve it appears this was all a grand and malevolent plan by Karl Nyman to let his friends and family tear themselves apart in a feeding frenzy of greed and avarice.
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#26 - Blood and Water
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 1 - Episode 1
When two fishermen find the body of a local farmer in the river, Detective Inspector Mike Shepherd is sent to the small rural town of Brokenwood to investigate the death. Is this the suicide of a man guilty of his own wife’s murder or is he the victim of foul play? As Mike uncovers a family’s tragedies and secrets he also learns that Brokenwood is a place where shadows lurk just beneath the surface.
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#27 - Find the Money
The Sounds - Season 1 - Episode 2
Maggie is devastated when the police downgrade the search for Tom to a recovery mission. Tom’s wealthy father sends an accountant to New Zealand to represent the family.
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#28 - Scared To Death
The Brokenwood Mysteries - Season 5 - Episode 1
It’s the annual Brokenwood A&P show. Time for that special kind of Kiwi carnival. Amidst the shearing displays, the ‘Calf Day’ competition and wood chopping, is the usual assortment of fun rides and fairground attractions. The sun is shining on happy family entertainment and ever popular this year is the shonky old Ghost Train. But when the surly A&P boss Harold Wilbury takes the minute-long ride as a safety check he gets the fright of his life. Shunted in his carriage through the final curtain, Harold greets daylight wide- eyed and dead. He is quite literally gone in 60 seconds. When a man dies of fright surely there is no question of murder - it’s just a case of bad luck. Then again how scary was the Ghost Train ride really? Curiously, Madame Magdalena in the Fortune Teller’s tent predicted the tragedy. Was that co- incidence or a way of adding credence to her credibility? The Ghost Train operator, Johnny Oades swears it’s nothing to do with him, but there is a question over falsified Health and Safety checks. And why is Daisy Rose the fairy princess so unhappy?
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#29 - Playing the Odds
The Sounds - Season 1 - Episode 4
Stranded and injured, Tom reluctantly accepts help from Ryan, a passing bushman who has secrets of his own. Maggie works to track down a sleezy environmental specialist.
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#30 - Not for Sale
The Sounds - Season 1 - Episode 5
Desperate to pay back the $330,000, Zoe comes to Maggie with a surprising proposal, dragging Maggie into negotiations with a dangerous crime family. Tom and Ryan learn each other's true identities, leading to a tense confrontation.
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#31 - By a Brother's Hand
Outrageous Fortune - Season 2 - Episode 12
Van tries to buy a dream home and Pascalle finds her dream job. Meanwhile Munter's middle name is Iago; Judd feels like Judas; and Jethro does a Hamlet.
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