Editorial: TV show bodes well for Rotorua

Writer Neil Cross has set his latest TV series in Rotorua. Photo / NZME.

If you read our Focus feature in Saturday's 48 Hours you'll know all about Rotorua's growing reputation as a breeding ground for top cops.

Turns out we're set to produce another notable detective, albeit a fictional one.

As we reported last week, Rotorua will be the setting for a new BBC crime drama.

The provisionally titled Bay of Plenty will feature a London police detective who relocates to Rotorua with her family, with the notion she is moving to paradise. She's not wrong, of course. And we do have a valley named Paradise. But somehow I think events, and scripts, will disabuse her of that notion.

The series has been mentioned in the same breath as TV classics like Twin Peaks and Fargo, so get set for our city's murder rate to skyrocket (though thankfully only on screen).

Of course, there will be some concern a crime drama set here will paint the city in a negative light - but I think we can give viewers around the world enough credit to separate fact from fiction. If anything I'm sure the show's focus on Rotorua's eerie beauty will enhance our reputation as a destination and draw even more tourists. And this will be a downstream effect. A more immediate benefit will be the jobs and spending accompanying the show's production.

The news of this show is very exciting, not least because its creator Neil Cross is responsible for Luther, one of my favourite British crime dramas. And its premise recalls both Broadchurch and The Brokenwood Mysteries, two enjoyable shows.

This could be very big for our town and while I can't wait to see the show, I'll be one of many looking forward to seeing its benefits emerge for Rotorua.