This is a made for TV New Zealand crime caper and despite obvious funding shortcomings it is ruddy excellent. Based on actual events that span the period between 1972 and 1980 we get to meet Marty Johnstone (Daniel Musgrove – 'Tracker') he is the black sheep of the family and finds a life of crime much more to his liking that hard graft. He has the looks and the charm and the confidence to think big. This also means he needs a bit of help. Enter Andy Maher played by Thijs Morris who has had parts on UK TV with 'Casualty' and 'Judge John Deed'; he soon becomes bestest mate and essential sidekick.
They start dealing in New Zealand' green' Mary Jane, then as things start to swing in a more cosmopolitan way they decide to up the ante and the drug strength by importing from Thailand – 'primo'. It is not long before the cops and the press start to pick up on the fact that something very amiss is happening right under their noses. Marty – which rhymes with 'party' – is also a hopeless womaniser and does a fair bit of bed hopping. The cops are under funded, not taken seriously and labouring under management that have not caught up with the times.
As Dylan told us the times are always a changin' and here we see that by the changes in fashion and the changes in drug of choice, so we start to get heroine, ecstasy and crack etc. The first rule of dealers is to never use your own gear. These guys start to think they are indestructible and so can do whatever they want. As the arrogance and the using increase so do their enemies and the interest from the forces of law and order.
This is a bit of a sex, drugs and violence tale and it is all done rather well. The budget meant that this seems to have all been filmed in New Zealand so that the red telephone boxes in Lancashire, England, are clearly mock ups exactly like the ones used in NZ. There are also issues around some of the locations. But this was a TV production so I found all of the corner cutting absolutely forgivable as the acting was all top notch and over the 263 minutes of screen time it kept my attention and interest all the way. Originally shown in six episodes and presented in two discs I think this is more proof that New Zealand has a fair bit of talent to offer that I, for one, would like to see a lot more of.
