Just when you thought the phrase “true crime comedy” was an oxymoron, along comes Far North – a wacky new TV series that proves real life is often stranger, and funnier, than fiction. The show, which premiered this week, is a dramatized account of the largest crystal methamphetamine bust in New Zealand history.
Half a Billion Dollar Blunder
Back in 2018, a bumbling group of drug smugglers made a colossal mistake. Their shipment of a staggering 500 kilograms of pure crystal meth, with an estimated street value of over $500 million, washed up on a remote beach in the country’s Far North region. Panicked, they reached out to some unwitting locals for help retrieving their lost loot.
Enter Robyn Malcolm and Temuera Morrison as Heather and Ed, an ordinary married couple who inadvertently get swept up in this mind-boggling meth mishap. Malcolm, best known for her dramatic turns in shows like Outrageous Fortune, flexes her comedic chops as a plucky aquarobics instructor in way over her head. Morrison, of Once Were Warriors fame, plays her affable husband caught along for the wild ride.
Meth Mayhem Meets Marital Mirth
While the events depicted are based in truth, Far North leans heavily into the sheer absurdity of the situation. The feckless felons Heather and Ed encounter wouldn’t be out of place in a slapstick caper. Their harebrained schemes to recover the drugs crescendo into a comedy of errors, with our protagonists stuck in the eye of the storm.
It’s a bit like Breaking Bad meets The Almighty Johnsons. You’ve got this massive criminal conspiracy colliding with the most mundane of married life. Heather teaching aquarobics by day, hiding from gangs by night. The contrast is hilarious.
– Series creator David Stubbs
But amidst the hijinks, the series doesn’t shy away from the very real issue of meth addiction that has gripped New Zealand in recent years. A 2022 study found that 1.1% of Kiwis aged 16-64 had used meth in the past year, one of the highest rates in the developed world. While played for laughs, Heather and Ed’s predicament underscores how this epidemic can touch even the most unassuming of lives.
Must-Sea TV
Critics have praised Far North for its deft tonal balancing act, mining humor from deadly serious source material without losing its sense of stakes. At the heart of the show’s success are the performances of Malcolm and Morrison, two of New Zealand’s most reliable screen talents.
Their easy chemistry sells both the farcical funny business and the more grounded moments of marital strain. When Heather and Ed bicker over the duress of their new double life, it feels as authentic as when they’re trying to explain away a garage full of gun-toting goons to their nosy neighbors.
I thought I’d seen Robyn do it all, but watching her try to casually teach aquarobics while freaking out about secret stash houses was a revelation. She’s a national treasure for a reason.
– TV reviewer Sarah Templeton
With most of the six-episode season still to come, Far North looks primed to become must-sea TV and a cult comedy classic. It’s a gonzo glimpse into one of the oddest chapters of New Zealand’s criminal history and a showcase for some of its most beloved stars. In a TV landscape littered with dour true crime dramas, this meth-merized marriage romp is a welcome whiff of fresh aqua air.
