Crackhead is a New Zealand comedy television series created by Holly Shervey, and executive produced by Tina McLaren and Phillipa Rennie. It stars Shervey, Ana Scotney, Tania Nolan, Sara Wiseman, Miriama Smith, Arlo Green, Carmel-Maria Savaiinaea, and Bronwyn Bradley.
Drug-addicted party-animal Frankie has blown it all up - her inheritance, her relationships, and most recently, her sister's house. It's time to go to rehab.
Crackhead was created and co-written by Holly Shervey, who also starred as the protagonist Frankie. It drew upon Shervey's personal experience in psychiatric care in 2010. The series was directed by Emmett Skilton, produced by Britta Hawkins, line produced by Sharron Jackson, and executively produced by Tina McLaren, Philippa Rennie and Emma White for Warner Bros International Television Production New Zealand (WBITVNZ). It was commissioned by Three TV channel, a subsidiary of Sky Network Television.
In July 2024, WBITVNZ was allocated NZ$3,197,306 (US$1.89 million) by the broadcasting funding body NZ On Air to produce eight 22-minute episodes for Crackhead.
Besides Shervey, other cast members included Ana Scotney as Lydia, Miriama Smith as Bella, Arlo Green, Tania Nolan, Mark Mitchinson, Ally Xue, Erroll Shand, Dominic Ona-Ariki and Bronwyn Bradley. In addition, Peter Elliott made a cameo appearance as a judge in the first episode.
Crackhead was released in New Zealand on 12 March 2026 through the Three television channel and streaming app ThreeNow. In Australia, the series was distributed by HBO Max.
Karl Puschmann of Radio New Zealand gave Crackhead a positive review. He wrote:
James Croot of TV Guide and The Press gave the series a positive review, praising the performances of cast members Shervey, Smith, Arlo Green, Mark Mitchinson, Erroll Shand, Dominic Ona-Ariki, and Peter Elliott. He compared the series to adult-oriented television series like Californication and The Big C and said that it added more variety to the police procedural-dominated New Zealand drama television genre.
Tara Ward of The Spinoff gave Crackhead a positive review, describing it as "raw, dark television with a seethingly funny bite to it, a show that gets comfortable with discomfort and never once wobbles. It is fast and fierce, dropping us straight into Frankie's chaotic world and refusing to let us out again." She praised showrunner Holly Shervey for immersing viewers into the world of the protagonist and for her portrayal of Frankie as a woman "hellbent on self-destruction." Ward also praised the performances of the other main cast members particularly Ana Scotney, Sara Wiseman and Miriama Smith. She liked the show's premise of exploring what was "really happening" at the asylum and Frankie grappling with the themes of trust and hope.