Among TVNZ 1’s finest offerings are City Life and Mercy Peak, which debuted in 1996 and 2001, respectively. TVNZ 1’s extensive portfolio includes more than 20 shows, spanning the years from 1996 to 2026. Discover the best of TVNZ 1 with our list of over 20 series, meticulously updated for October 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.

Kiwis will battle it out for the ultimate prize and title of "Sole Survivor". It's the ultimate test of physical, mental and emotional strength.

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

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.

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.”

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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.

Nothing Trivial is funny, warm and romantic and about people at a crossroads in their lives, particularly when it comes to finding that significant other to love and grow old with. It’s about people trying to find the answers to life’s big questions, while answering a whole lot of small and trivial ones… and winning the bar tab while they’re at it!

When an Aussie cop couple trade their badges for a quiet life managing a beachside motel in New Zealand, they plan to leave police work behind them - that is until crime comes to them.

Three illegitimate children discover they each have a claim to the fortune of one of NZ's wealthiest men, John Truebridge. With so much money on the line, John's legitimate family will do anything to stop these new, unexpected heirs!

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.

Man's best friend keeps would-be trouble makers on a short leash.

The series is a spoof comedy that follows four hapless wannabes - a model, a stuntman, a dwarf entertainer and a stand-up comedian who are all chasing fame in Auckland's ridiculously small entertainment industry. Starring a number of local talents including Millen Baird (The Millen Baird Show), Jennifer Ward-Lealand (Xena: Warrior Princess), Natalie Medlock (Shortland Street) and Glen Levy, the stuntman described by National Geographic as "the 20th deadliest man on the planet". Auckland Daze takes the interactive experience that made Reservoir Hill a success to the next level. Screening on TVNZ Ondemand, which has over three hundred thousand unique viewers per month, Auckland Daze will also be embedded into Facebook where viewers will be able to watch, "like" and share the episodes with their friends without having to leave their Facebook profile. After the episode, the audience will be prompted to say what they think.

When a family member is diagnosed with a terminal illness and decides they want to end their life, fundamentally different beliefs threaten to blow the family apart. Will they be able to come together before it’s too late?