''Wellington Paranormal'' is a New Zealand

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three ty ...

television series which first aired on 11 July 2018 on

TVNZ 2 TVNZ 2 ( mi, Te Reo Tātaki Rua) is the second New Zealand television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ). It targets a younger audience than its sister channel, TVNZ 1. TVNZ 2's line up consi ...

. The series is a spin-off of the 2014 film ''

What We Do in the Shadows ''What We Do in the Shadows'' is a 2014 New Zealand mockumentary horror comedy film written and directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi and the first installment in the ''What We Do in the Shadows'' franchise. The film also stars Clem ...

'' and first television series in the

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

, and its lead characters—Officers Minogue and O'Leary—first appeared in the film as a pair of incurious police officers.

Production history

The series was created by

Jemaine Clement Jemaine Atea Mahana Clement (born 10 January 1974) is a New Zealand actor, comedian, musician and filmmaker. He has released several albums with Bret McKenzie as the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, and created a comedy series of the ...

and Paul Yates based on characters from ''What We Do in the Shadows'' by Clement and Taika Waititi. Waititi and Clement serve as the series' executive producers, while Clement directs four of the six episodes in Season 1. The series was confirmed for a second season of 13 episodes, which aired 6 episodes beginning on 16 October 2019. A Christmas special aired on 19 December 2019, with the remaining six episodes airing as a new season. Between the special and third series, a sixteen-episode digital web series and public service campaign by

New Zealand Police The New Zealand Police ( mi, Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa) is the national police service and principal law enforcement agency of New Zealand, responsible for preventing crime, enhancing public safety, bringing offenders to justice, and maintai ...

to inform the public on health, safety, and best practices during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, titled ''Important COVID-19 Messages from Wellington Paranormal'', began airing from 26 March 2020, featuring

Andrew Coster Andrew David Coster (born ) is the current New Zealand Police Commissioner and former Deputy Police Commissioner. He has served as the New Zealand Commissioner of Police since 3 April 2020. Early life Coster was born in 1975 or 1976 in Dunedin ...

and

Clarke Gayford Clarke Timothy Gayford (born 24 October 1976) is a New Zealand radio and television broadcaster, presenter of the fishing documentary show ''Fish of the Day''. He is the fiancé of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Education and career ...

as themselves. The lead characters also appeared as part of a 2018 New Zealand Police Recruitment video, and four 2018 Police Safety campaign videos. The third season premiered on 24 February 2021. Jemaine Clement stated in June 2021 that the fourth season was in post-production. He added: "We're pausing on ellington Paranormal we're not sure we'll be back for a fifth season", while discussing a new series that he and Waititi are currently developing. It was later confirmed that the fourth season would be its last, which premiered on 16 February 2022.

Cast

Main

Mike Minogue Michael John Minogue (20 October 1923 – 27 November 2008) was a New Zealand National Party politician, lawyer and mayor. Biography Minogue was born on 20 October 1923. He attended Timaru Boys' High School, St. Patrick's College ...

as Officer Kyle Minogue *

Karen O'Leary Karen O'Leary is a New Zealand schoolteacher, comedian and actress. She played Officer O'Leary in ''Wellington Paranormal'', which ran for four seasons from 2018-2022. Biography O'Leary grew up in Miramar, Wellington and attended Wellington ...

as Officer O'Leary *

Maaka Pohatu Maaka Pohatu is a New Zealand actor and musician. Pohatu is also a founding member of Māori showband the Modern Māori Quartet. He co-wrote and performed songs, with the other band members, for the Modern Māori Quartet's debut album ''That's U ...

as Sergeant Ruawai Maaka * Thomas Sainsbury as Constable Parker (season 4, recurring seasons 1-3)

Recurring

Lynda Topp Dame Lynda Bethridge Topp (born 14 May 1958), is one half of the Topp Twins, a music comedy duo of New Zealand, the other member being her twin sister Jools Topp. Lynda Topp has been singing and entertaining with her sister for decades, touring ...

as Mrs. O'Leary

Guest

* Cori Gonzalez-Macuer as Nick *

as Mobot Voice *

Rhys Darby Rhys Montague Darby (born 21 March 1974) is a New Zealand actor and comedian, known for his energetic physical comedy routines, telling stories accompanied with mime and sound effects of things such as machinery and animals. He was nominated for ...

as Anton

Episodes

Series 1 (2018)

Police Recruitment video

Police Summer Safety

Series 2 (2019)

Christmas special (2019)

Important COVID-19 messages (2020)

Series 3 (2021)

Series 4 (2022)

Broadcast and distribution

The series is broadcast on

with catch-up availability on TVNZ's streaming service

TVNZ+ TVNZ+ ( mi, Te Reo Tātaki Ā-Tono), formerly known as TVNZ OnDemand, is an online New Zealand television and video on demand streaming service offered by TVNZ. It offers a variety of free content, such as news updates and programmes seen on TVN ...

. In neighboring

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, the series is available on

SBS on Demand SBS is a national public television network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2018, SBS had a 7.7% audience share. As of 2022, SBS is the lowest ...

. In 2021,

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

licensed three seasons of the show for streaming on

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...

(formerly Now TV) and

Sky Q Sky Q is a subscription-based television and entertainment service operated by British satellite television provider Sky, as a part of its operations in Austria and Germany, Ireland, Italy and in the UK. The name also refers to the Sky Q set-t ...

via

Sky Comedy Sky Comedy is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast, which launched on 27 January 2020, replacing Universal TV. It is the first dedicated full-time comedy station in Sky's channel portfolio since the ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the series debuted on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

on 11 July 2021, with episodes available to stream on

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

the day after they air.

Reception

's appearance on a short ''Wellington Paranormal'' video in April 2020 encouraging people who were looking after young children during the

drew some criticism due to his relationship with

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Jacinda Ardern Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the member of ...

. National Party

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Brett Hudson Brett Stuart Patrick Hudson (born January 18, 1953) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was the youngest member of the musical group the Hudson Brothers, which was formed by his older brothers, Mark and Bill, in 1965. He is now a ...

alleged during an Epidemic Response Committee meeting in early May 2020 that the video risked "politicising" the

. In response, Police Commissioner

defended Gayford's participation on the grounds that he was a well-known television personality who had participated in the television series.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Taika Waititi 2010s New Zealand television series 2018 New Zealand television series debuts 2020s New Zealand television series 2022 New Zealand television series endings Fantasy television series Live action television shows based on films New Zealand comedy television series New Zealand mockumentary television series New Zealand television sitcoms Police comedy television series Television shows set in Wellington TVNZ 2 original programming Urban fantasy Wellington in fiction