Netflix NZ at 10: The 10 best Original Series
Thursday, 20 March 2025
It’s a decade since the way Kiwis consume film and television changed irrevocably.
After much anticipation, Netflix finally launched here on March 24, 2015, part of a streaming revolution that also saw Sky launch Neon a month earlier.
Initially, local viewers were sceptical. Sure it gave us our first taste of programmes like Bloodline, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Marco Polo, but the offerings paled in comparison to America, thanks largely to existing rights deals with pay TV and free-to-air channels on our shores. Those who had already discovered Netflix’s US service were reluctant to trade in their VPNs for an inferior selection.
Eventually though, as Netflix acquired and created TV shows and movies it could distribute around the globe at the same time, New Zealanders were won over and “Tudum” (the service’s nickname, inspired by the onomatopoeic sound of its signature intro) became the source of appointment viewing (usually in the form of binge-watching entire series in a single weekend) and watercooler conversation as the likes of Squid Game, Derry Girls, Selling Sunset and Is It Cake? unfurled.
To celebrate 10 years of Netflix in New Zealand, Stuff to Watch decided to pick out our 10 favourite Netflix Original series.
Black Doves (2024-)
This stunning six-part UK spy thriller teams the brilliant Ben Whishaw (This is Going to Hurt) with a compelling Keira Knightley (Official Secrets ). It focuses on an operative (Knightley) who finds herself caught in the crosshairs when her lover falls victim to the dangerous London underworld.
A heady cocktail of Bodyguard, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Red Sparrow and Killing Eve, Joe Barton’s (The Lazarus Project) tense, taut tale is filled with twists and turns, superbly executed set pieces and killer one-liners. However, Black Dove’s point of difference and particularly addictive quality is that it presents its twin protagonists as messy and flawed, complicated and compromised.
Bridgerton (2020-)
After successfully tackling the medical, legal and political genres, Shonda Rhimes had a go at period drama with this series based on Julia Quinn’s series of best-selling novels set in the competitive world of Regency London high society.
With its animated titles, simmering jealousies, sibling issues, forbidden loves and heaving bosoms (decolletage is definitely de rigueur here) you could have been forgiven for initially thinking you’d stumbled into a Game of Thrones sequel (and there’s definitely at least one mother of dragons contender on display).There’s also definitely a similar frisson about the cut-throat social scene of Grosvenor Square, as there was in the political machinations of Westeros (although words rather than swords are the weapons of choice).
Deep down though, Bridgerton is simply a sumptuous-looking, witty written and intrigue-filled costumed romance.
The Crown (2016-2024)
As series creator Peter Morgan has constantly displayed throughout his two-decade reign as the king of British royal and political dramas, he has an eye for detail, an ear for cadence and courtly language, a deep knowledge of protocol and a deft touch when it comes to pacing and creating characters and situations you want to spend time with.
Sure its quality dropped off dramatically in the last two increasingly controversial seasons, but it attracted a star-studded cast for a very good reason and its production values were most definitely set to sumptuous.
The Diplomat (2023-)
The creation of former Homeland, Grey’s Anatomy and The West Wing screenwriter Debora Cahn, this political thriller has offered Keri Russell her best role since she finished her five-season run on The Americans as KGB intelligence officer Elizabeth Jennings in 2018.
Set in the midst of an international crisis, it follows Russell’s career diplomat Kate Wyler, as she’s thrust into a high-profile job she’s ill-suited for. It’s a move that has tectonic implications for both her marriage and political future.
Offering gripping, compelling viewing, this boasts crisp dialogue and snappy action.
House of Cards (2013-2018)
Although it ended in acrimony and controversy, thanks to the off-screen travails of its star Kevin Spacey, this was still the TV show that helped establish Netflix as the home of original content (even if it debuted here in the dead of night on TV3).
Initially inspired by a popular 1990s trio of BBC mini-series, this brilliantly transplants the Machiavellian politics of Thatcher-era Westminster to 21st Century Washington. Spacey played a congressman who works with his equally conniving wife (Robin Wright) to exact revenge on the people who betrayed him.
The Queen’s Gambit (2020)
Anya Taylor-Joy (Emma, Furiosa) starred in this seven-part drama based on Walter Tevis’ 1983 novel of the same name. It’s the story of orphaned chess prodigy Beth Harmon, who struggled with addiction from an early age in trying to achieve her quest to become a Grandmaster.
What makes it compelling, bingeworthy viewing is the combination of sumptuous 1960s production design, gorgeous costuming, Scott Frank’s (Godless, Logan) slow-burning, but sharp storytelling and superb direction and a simply mesmerising performance from Taylor-Joy.
Russian Doll (2019-)
Drawing comparisons to Groundhog Day, Run Lola Run and Edge of Tomorrow with its sci-fi infused premise, this comedy focuses on Nadia Vulvokov (a brilliantly acerbic Natasha Lyonne), a software engineer who finds herself trapped in a time loop on the night of her 36th birthday. No matter how hard she tries, Nadia just can't stop finding new ways to die and be instantaneously sent back to the beginning of the evening.
Hilarious, disturbing and infuriatingly intriguing in equal measures.
Stranger Things (2016-2025)
For a certain generation it might have been the show that brought Winona Ryder back into our lives, but it’s this 1980s-infused sci-fi series’ combination of multiple storylines, whip-smart dialogue and warm nostalgia that makes for compelling viewing.
Centring on the residents of the fictional small town of Hawkins, Indiana, as they are plagued by a hostile alternate dimension known as the Upside Down, this offers homages to classic genre movies, more than enough visual horrors to disturb your sleep, as well as plenty of mystery to keep you glued to the action and convince anyone you're sharing the viewing with to watch just 'one more' before bedtime.
Sweet Tooth (2021-24)
Based on Canadian artist Jeff Lemire’s 40-issue comic-book series of the same name, this eight-part fantasy series uses our lush landscapes and, um, suburban Mission Bay, to bring to life a charming and exciting post-apocalyptic adventure.
It’s set almost 10 years after “the Great Crumble”, the moment when humanity discovered that life would never be normal again. H5G9 quickly became the deadliest virus in our lifetime, producing fatalities not seen “since the black plague”. However, as the world slipped into chaos, something else was happening in the nation’s maternity wards. The children being born arrived as if spliced with animal DNA.
Wednesday (2022-)
Has there ever been a more perfect match of director to material than this? Tim Burton’s gothic sensibilities fit perfectly alongside the macabre aesthetic of the cartoonist Charles Addams’ satire of the ideal 20th Century American family.
In his first foray into TV since his The Word of Stainboy mini-series of shorts more than 20 years ago, the man who gave us his own unique, twisted visions of Batman, Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, is at the helm of a Riverdale/Chilling Adventures of Sabrina-style Addams Family update – and the result is exactly as ooky, spooky and kooky as anyone might have hoped.
A pitch black teen comedy that’s anchored by a fabulous, acerbic turn from Jenna Ortega as the eponymous monochrome-loving and Machiavellian eldest Addams child.