News / Events

Queenstown's Darkest Secrets Resurface in Season 2 

There are crime dramas that use their setting as wallpaper, and then there are crime dramas where the setting is a co-conspirator, a witness, and a suspect all at once. A Remarkable Place to Die has always belonged firmly in the second camp, and in season two the series is set to prove that Queenstown's beauty and its buried menace are far from exhausted. 

Season 2 picks up with Detective Anais Mallory once again pulled into the tangled undercurrents of a town where postcard views mask uneasy histories. This time, though, the mystery cuts closer to home and as Mallory investigates a fresh murder, she's forced to reckon with long-unresolved questions about her own family. 

The talented local cast includes Chelsie Preston Crayford, Matt Whelan, Dahnu Graham and Roimata Fox. The writing team of John Banas, Victoria Boult, Peter Burger, Christopher Plank, Peter Gawler, Dahnu Graham, Pip Hall and Charlie Haskell had room to breathe and layer red herrings across the six feature-length episodes. Behind the camera, the director's roster includes Burger, Emmett Skilton, Boult and Haskell. 

Creator and executive producer Philly de Lacey is certain about what makes this production special. 

"Aside from the incredible cast and crew and genuine love and spirit everyone has for the production it is most definitely the place! As the title suggests, Queenstown's a Remarkable Place to Live and Die. The location is a key character in the series and all stories, murders and characters are drawn from the unique environment here." 

That's not a marketing flourish,it's a production philosophy. The team's commitment to shooting outdoors whenever possible means the Southern Alps, the glacial lakes and the dramatic light of the region aren't just backdrops; they're written into the DNA of the storytelling. As de Lacey puts it, "everywhere the camera points is a drop-dead gorgeous backdrop," and the goodwill of the local community has made that ambition achievable at scale, with six episodes shot across a demanding December-to-May production window. 

A Genuinely International Production 

Behind the scenes, A Remarkable Place to Die 2 is a study in how modern television gets made across borders. Screentime NZ leads the charge as creator, in co-production with Real Film Berlin and ZDF, and in association with Banijay Rights — a partnership structure reflected in a funding base spanning ZDF, Acorn, Nine, TVNZ, Banijay Rights, the NZFC and NZ On Air. Executive producer Philly de Lacey and producers Charlie Haskell and Andrew Marshall lead the New Zealand side, with Henning Kamm and Sibylle Stellbrink steering Real Film Berlin's involvement from Germany. 

The result is a series built for genuine international reach, with TVNZ carrying it at home, ZDF in Germany, Acorn TV serving US audiences, and Nine Network bringing it to Australia. 

When to Watch 

Season 2 premiered 13 September 2026 on TVNZ 1 with new episodes each Sunday at 8:30pm before screening on TVNZ+, giving audiences a fresh instalment of a series that has already established itself as one of New Zealand's most visually distinctive crime dramas.

If the first season proved Queenstown could be as unsettling as it is beautiful, Season 2 looks set to dig even deeper into the town, and into the detective who can no longer keep it at arm's length.

> Watch on TVNZ+