Agent Anna

Agent Anna is a New Zealand comedy-drama television series, created by Maxine Fleming with Vanessa Alexander and devised by Robyn Malcolm. It is produced by Great Southern Film and Television and funded by NZ on Air and Television New Zealand. It began airing its first series of six episodes in New Zealand on 31 January 2013. NZ on Air announced on 12 August 2013 that the show received funding for a second series of 10 episodes.

Premise

Anna Kingston's husband has left her and their two teenage daughters and gone to Australia leaving behind substantial debts. The family home has been sold, leaving the family to move into Anna's parents' basement. Armed with a new real estate agent's diploma and a motivational CD, Anna gets a job in an Auckland real estate office. Her co-workers steal her listings and treat her poorly, her daughters miss their previous private school, and her mother is unsympathetic.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Robyn Malcolm as Anna Kingston
Adam Gardiner as Leon Cruickshank – Eden Realty's top selling agent.
Theresa Healey as Sandi Wright – Eden Realty's resident cougar agent.
Roy Billing as Clinton Walker – Anna's boss, He owns Eden Realty. He agreed to be paid at New Zealand rates.
Recurring cast
Kayleigh Haworth as Bree Walker – Clint and Sandi's 19-year-old daughter, She's the receptionist at Eden Realty.
Floyd Alexander Hunt as Charlotte "Charlie" Kingston – Anna's 17-year-old daughter.
Molly Leishman as Bella Kingston – Anna's 14-year-old daughter.
Janice Finn as Jeanette Dryden – Anna's mother.
Ian Mune as Neil Dryden – Anna's father.
Sally Stockwell as Claire - Anna's friend.
Guest cast
Ingrid Park as Erica Ball
Bruce Phillips as John Ball
Peter Feeney as Adrian
Louise Wallace as Amanda
Micheala Rooney as Katherine
James Gaylyn as Motivational speaker
John Leigh as James Finlayson
Cameron Rhodes as Charles Jordan
Lisa Chappell as Marna
Fasitua Amosa as Sione
Hwei Ling Ow as Candy Lin
Greg Johnson as Daniel Kingston – Anna's ex-husband.
Dwayne Cameron as Rory O'Conner
Jodie Rimmer as Liz – A woman who sells Anna her dream home.
Alison Quigan as Edith – Anna's aunt, who gives Anna her first paid sale.
Peter Elliott as Cameron Glover – A property developer.
Series overview

Series 1 (2013)

Series 2 (2014)

Broadcast

In Australia, the show premiered on 7Two on 15 January 2014., while series 2 eventually premiered shortly after midnight on 2 January 2018 on 7flix.

Reception

The number of viewers was good by New Zealand standards. Chris Philpott in On the Box says "Malcolm catches the vulnerability, the humanity, at the core of Anna Kingston, and she sells the despair that this former housewife is going through," and he thought the first episode was well-structured. Michelle Hewitson in The New Zealand Herald wrote "it's a rather sweet, giggly little blonde number with not a lot of substance, but who cares? It's obvious Malcolm is having a lot of fun." She thought it was about time for a comedy about the city's "overheated" property market. In contrast, Jane Bowron wrote in The [Dominion Post |The Dominion Post] that "the first episode was as hard to sell as a real estate agent's first house sale" and criticised it for being set in Auckland rather than more typical New Zealand, and dealing with a woman who had been out of the workforce for 20 years, which is no longer common for New Zealand women. Nick Grant, also in the Herald, says " little more than a hapless doormat, which at best is more likely to attract a somewhat impatient sympathy than outright affection" but suggests the show will "map journey to independent assertiveness." Diana Wichtel in The New Zealand Listener says "This quiet comedy is in danger of being overshadowed by something sexier", but says she intends to keep watching it.