Archived · TVNZ 2
Set in the 1970s, New Zealand Spy plays the spy genre entirely for bureaucratic deflation. The country's intelligence operation launches with exactly three recruits, because that's how many applied, and the comedy grows from that founding absurdity outward into government dysfunction, institutional ineptitude, and a national self-awareness that never lets the premise get too grand.
The primary threat driving the plot is Australia, which keeps the satire usefully small and specific. Rather than global stakes or villain monologues, the show builds sustained comic situations out of mundane procedural friction, the kind that accumulates across episodes rather than resolving in a single punchline.
bureaucratic spy spoof, 1970s office farce and Comedy
Comedy
Season 1 · 6 episodes
TVNZ 2
New Zealand's newest spies - and the only three who applied - are tasked with protecting our nation from incoming threats, most notably those noisy neighbours in Australia.
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Follows President Andre Curtis and his eccentric staff as they deal with various crises that Rick Sanchez typically ignores.
President Curtis keeps the same bureaucratic comedy engine as New Zealand Spy, with teams stuck managing crises through paperwork, meetings, and escalating incompetence. Expect irreverent workplace chaos and fast, adult jokes that feel bigger and stranger than the 1970s spy spoof setup.
A dysfunctional team of MI5 agents navigate the espionage world's smoke and mirrors to defend the UK from sinister forces.
Slow Horses shares New Zealand Spy’s love of spy work drained of glamour, trading heroics for office hierarchy, grudges, and dry, deadpan humor. You get tense scenes where people survive on bad tradecraft and stubborn personalities, darker and more grounded than the 1970s spoof energy.
Tasmania has finally been given the green light to field a team in the AFL - but there's a catch. The locals have to build a new stadium, and not everyone thinks the billion dollar spend is a good idea.
Ground Up and New Zealand Spy both mine laughs from small-scale government life, where plans collide with local personalities and stubborn rules. The mockumentary talking-heads and civic chaos bring a warmer, community-focused messiness, while New Zealand Spy stays sharper and more rivalry-driven.
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Get recommendations from a show you loveSee 3 more shows like New Zealand Spy