Showcasing over 20 shows from 1996 up until 2024, TVNZ 1 stands as a beacon of television excellence. Icons of TVNZ 1, City Life and Jackson's Wharf made their debut in 1996 and 1999, setting industry standards. Dive into our updated selection of TVNZ 1’s finest, featuring more than 20 series as of January 2026.

The New Zealand version of the British “Strictly Come Dancing” show sees celebrities perform choreographed dance routines which are judged by a panel of renowned ballroom experts and voted on by viewers.

Auckward Love is show about women doing women stuff. Follow Alice, Vicky, Zoe and Grace as they experience love, lust , and everything else.

Observational documentary following the daily lives of police officers patrolling the motorways in and around Auckland, New Zealand's largest urban area.

In a seemingly quiet country town the newest resident, Detective Inspector Mike Shepherd, finds that murder lurks in even the most homely location.

Waka, a murdered Māori warrior returned from the Afterlife, and Mehe, a determined young woman, embark on a quest to find who "broke the world" and how to close the breach between the living and the dead.

Follow a teenage girl and a trio of fallen gods on a perilous journey as they attempt to bring an end to a demonic reign of chaos and restore balance to their world. Inspired by the 16th Century Chinese fable “Journey to the West.”

Investigator Alexa Crowe, cannot help fighting the good fight – whether it is solving murders or combatting the small frustrations of everyday life. Fearless and unapologetic, Alexa's unique skills and insights into the darker quirks of human nature, allows her to provoke, comfort and push the right buttons as she unravels the truth behind the most baffling of crimes.

It follows Theo Richter, an Irish detective who teams with Kiwi cop Diana Huia to find a young Irish couple vanish from an infamous rural North Island New Zealand town. Amidst the search and a race against time, the pair have to contend with a community’s growing disquiet that the disappearances may be linked to a series of historical murders.

During a murder investigation in Queenstown, an ambitious young detective reawakens a spiritual gift that endangers the case, his career and his life.

The 19th-century tale of love, murder and revenge as men and women travel across the world to make their fortunes on the wild West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.

The stories of creative and enterprising Kiwis who are taking on the challenge of building their own unique and inspirational homes. No design is too ambitious, and no obstacle too large in their quest for the perfect house.

Anaís Mallory is a smart and savvy homicide investigator who after returning to her hometown, and taking the lead detective position, faces a series of startlingly complex murders with links to her family's tragic history.

Jackson's Wharf was a New Zealand television series created by Gavin Strawhan and Rachel Lang. Set in a fictional coastal town, the series told the story of a sibling rivalry between brothers Frank, the town cop, and Ben Jackson, a big-town lawyer. After inheriting the local pub from his recently deceased father, Ben returns to the small town with his family, with his arrival bringing its fair sheer of drama and conflict to the small township.

Penny’s world implodes when she accuses her husband Phil of a sex crime against her daughter’s teenage friend and nobody believes her.

Francis and Kaiora Tipene are the passionate proprietors of Tipene Funerals. This is a unique opportunity to look behind the scenes of their business and into this little-explored but vital service, where our culture's last taboo is being addressed with dignity and aroha.

Two brothers from the same dysfunctional family, having escaped the desperate days of their early childhood, find their newly ordered lives falling apart when one becomes a suspect in a murder.

City Life was a New Zealand soap opera that screened on TVNZ from 1996-1998. It was portrayed the lives and loves of ten singles who lived in an upmarket apartment building in Auckland, New Zealand. The show was touted as New Zealand's answer to Melrose Place. The show starred Claudia Black, Lisa Chappell, Laurie Foell and Oliver Driver and featured a guest appearance by well known New Zealand actor, Kevin Smith. The show had a long development period, and the original treatment for the show had it set in Wellington with the working title 96 Oriental Parade. However, it was decided to produce the show in Auckland instead, and as such, the shows setting was changed along with the name to City Life. The first episode began with a controversial first scene, featuring a drunken Damon who owned the apartment building, in a homosexual kiss with his former lover Ryan on the night before his wedding. Damon was later killed off in the same episode after being hit by a car on the way to his wedding, and he left his apartment building to all of his friends. However, Damon's fianceè vowed to fight for her share of Damon's estate, leading to a storyline that would span the show's first five episodes.

Mercy Peak was a New Zealand television series that ran for three seasons on local network TV One, between 2001 and 2004. The series rated well in New Zealand and won multiple awards for its cast. Though an ensemble show, Mercy Peak centres on a doctor who leaves the city to work at a hospital in the small town of Bassett. She works alongside stuffy but caring doctor William Kingsley. The series was produced by Auckland company South Pacific Pictures; a number of those who worked on the show would have a big hand in South Pacific Pictures hit Outrageous Fortune, including co-creator Rachel Lang, directors Mark Beesley and Simon Bennett, and producer John Laing.

The Insiders Guide To Happiness is a New Zealand drama series that explores the lives of a group of six previously unconnected people. Each life is connected by a bizarre car accident, the outcome of which forces them to examine and explore the happiness in their own lives. The series was followed by a prequel, The Insider's Guide To Love, with James the only character in common.

A teenage boy called Ben Wilson finds out about a superhero insignia which gives him powers. He has difficulty with them, especially flight and using eye lasers at first, but soon learns to control them fairly well. His grandfather is also a superhero, and this is how he comes to acquire the insignia. His mother hates all the superhero business going on for the sake of safety, but his father and stepfather both encourage him, his father being the previous superhero in Ben's position, Captain Xtraordinary or simply Captain X, and his stepfather being the son of a supervillain, The Comedian. The position, it is found out in the show, has been held by many heroes in the past.