Tangata Pai is a New Zealand drama television series created and produced by Kiel McNaughton and Kerry Warkia. The series focuses on five characters—a MÃÂori activist musician, a struggling father, a Chinese New Zealander police officer, a MÃÂori Member of Parliament and a nurse—responding to a bomb attack targeting an anti-mining protest at a sacred MÃÂori site in New Plymouth. Tangata Pai has 30 percent MÃÂori dialogue. It was released on Sky's Three TV channel and the ThreeNow streaming service on 16 September 2025.
A land occupation and a terrorist attack put a mirror up to a country still reckoning with its past. The story follows an activist musician, a conflicted cop, a grieving nurse, a struggling father, and a torn politician as they fight for justice, family, and identity.
Tangata Pai was directed by Kiel McNaughton and produced by Kerry Warkia. The series was written by McNaughton, Mei-Lin Te Puea Hansen, Briar Grace-Smith, and Hamish Bennett. Drew Sturge served as cinematographer. Veteran journalist Mereana Hond and Ruakere Hond also served as the production's MÃÂori language and tikanga (cultural) consultants. Jared Flitcroft served as the production's New Zealand Sign Language coordinator.
McNaughton, who has familial connections to both Taranaki iwi (tribe) and Parihaka, said that Tangata Pai was inspired by past MÃÂori historical struggles and contemporary issues such as seabed mining. He and Mereana decided to incorporate 30 percent MÃÂori dialogue into the series as part of a memorandum of understanding between the producers and local MÃÂori tribes. The two said that they hoped that the series would normalise the use of MÃÂori for New Zealand viewers.
McNaughton drew inspiration for the series from his lived experiences in Hawera. During an interview with Radio New Zealand, McNaughton said that he hoped that the series would help to deepen people's understanding of others and of Aotearoa as a nation, stating:
The series name Tangata Pai translates from the MÃÂori language as "Good People." According to a promotional release, each character in the series believed that they were doing what is right. The series would look the devastating consequences of their actions while exploring the theme of what it means to be "good" and who gets to decide what is good.
AriÃÂna Osborne was cast as Willa, an emerging politically-engaged MÃÂori musician struggling with self-doubt and finding her whakapapa (identity). Jayden Daniels was cast as Miki, an activist and struggling father seeking to protect his son. Yoson An was cast as Adrian, a Chinese New Zealander police officer struggling between duty and identity. Shavaughn Ruakere was cast as Hinewai, a nurse and mother sacrificing everything for her people. Nicola KÃÂwana was cast as Ahorangi, a MÃÂori government minister struggling to find a balance between tradition and politics.
In addition to the five mains leads, the production had about 45 supporting cast members including James Tito as Tëmoti, Nikki Si'ulepa as Senior Constable Liliu Brown, Kaylee Wipani as Ahorangi's deaf daughter Jade, Shania Bailey-Edmonds as Kaia, John Leigh as Gary, Jacqueline Nairn as Sandra, Jordan Selwyn as Tane, Tim Carlsen as Sergeant Andrew Matthews, and Billy Reynolds McCarthy as Liam. Several New Plymouth locals were also hired as extras.
To play the role of Hinewai, Ruakere drew inspiration from her previous acting work on the TVNZ drama series Shortland Street and her father and mother's experiences as a doctor and nurse. Tangata Pai was Ruakere's first major MÃÂori language television role and she undertook language training to prepare for that role. To prepare for her role as Ahorangi, KÃÂwana learnt New Zealand Sign Language and the MÃÂori language. For her character Willa, Osborne also learnt MÃÂori. For his character Tëmoti, Tito drew upon his lived experiences as MÃÂori person and adapted to the Taranaki dialect of the MÃÂori language used in Tangata Pai. For her character Liliu Brown, Si'ulepa drew inspiration from her lived experiences as a Samoan New Zealander.
Tangata Pai was filmed in New Plymouth and Auckland over a six week period between mid-October and November 2024. Filming in New Plymouth centered around the Puke Ariki Landing and the surrounding streets.
The series was developed through the CAPE Showrunner Incubator and produced by Kerry Warkia and Kiel McNaughton's production company, Brown Sugar Apple Grunt Productions. Tangata Pai was made in partnership with the local MÃÂori iwi Te Atiawa and hapà « (clan) NgÃÂti Te Whiti through a group of tribal experts who served as cultural consultants. It also received NZ$3.9m (US$2.3m) in funding from Te MÃÂngai PÃÂho (the MÃÂori Broadcast Funding Agency) and NZ on Air in April 2024. The series also received backing from Warner Bros. Discovery New Zealand, which confirmed it would distribute it through its Three TV channel and ThreeNow streaming app.
According to McNaughton, the Tangata Pai storyline covered the hour leading up to a terror attack. Using a real time perspective, each episode was edited to focus on eight minutes from the lives of each of the five protagonists. This plot structure was used to build tensions for the series' storyline.
The series also featured new music from several artists including Jordywithawhy, Chase Woods, Reb Fountain, Troy Kingi. Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper served as the series' composer.
Tangata Pai first premiered at the TSB Showplace in New Plymouth on 13 September 2025. On 14 September, a promotional trailer was also released.
The series' first two episodes were released on the Three TV channel and the ThreeNow streaming service on 16 September 2025. The subsequent six episodes were then released on a weekly basis between 23 September and 28 October 2025. The series was also screened at the 2025 Hawaii International Film Festival on 24 October.
The series was picked up by Netflix on 16 March 2026.
Dana Leaming of The Spinoff gave a mixed review of Tangata Pai, describing it as an "ambitious drama that excels beyond its heavy handedness." She praised showrunner Kiel McNaughton for incorporating MÃÂori language and culture into the dialogue. While Leaming regarded the split storylines converging on the main plot as "refreshing and gutsy," she observed that it also slowed down the story's pacing. Leaming was critical of the heavy-handed emphasis on activism, resistance and identity across the five character arcs, saying that it detracted from an otherwise nuanced production. She praised Shavaughn Ruakere's performance as the nurse Hinewai as "grounded and compelling" but was critical of the other five character arcs for serving as a "conduit for themes" rather than actualised people." Despite these shortcomings, Leaming praised McNaughton's intention and commitment towards the first episode for setting the stage for the series' storyline.
James Croot of The Post gave the series a positive review, writing: He also praised the multi-perspective, real time storytelling style for exploring and connecting the stories of the five main characters. Croot also credited the series' multi-perspective editing style for maximising intrigue and tension.
Tara Ward of Newstalk ZB gave the series a positive review, describing it as "clever, layered, thoughtful." She praised its 30 percent MÃÂori language dialogue and its real-time multi-perspective storytelling focusing on five major characters. Ward described Tangata Pai as an authentically New Zealand show that "did not try and replicate overseas shows" and focused on how contemporary political issues affected ordinary people in New Zealand. Ward praised the performances of KÃÂwana, Ruakere and Jayden Daniels as well as the work of showrunner McNaughton.