The Gone

The Gone is a crime drama television series directed by Peter Burger and Hannah Quinn, with scripts written by Anna McPartlin and Michael Bennet. The first season of six episodes was broadcast from 7 May 2023 on TVNZ in New Zealand. It stars Richard Flood as Irish detective Theo Richter, who joins Detective Sergeant Diana Huia to investigate the disappearance of an Irish couple in New Zealand. Irish journalist Aileen Ryan reports on the situation. A second season of six episodes followed in 2024, directed by Dathaí Keane and Peter Burger. When Aileen also goes missing, Theo and Diana lead the search.

Premise

When an Irish couple go missing in Mt Affinity, New Zealand, Irish detective Theo Richter collaborates with local police Diana Huia and Bruce Harris to solve the mystery.

Cast and characters

Richard Flood as Theo Richter
Acushla-Tara Kupe as DS Diana Huia
Carolyn Bracken as Aileen Ryan
Vanessa Rare as Wiki Huia
Scott Wills as Bruce Harris
Wayne Hapi as Buster Huia
Rachel Morgan as Sinead Martin
Michelle Fairley as Hannah Martin
Simon Mead as Ronan Garvey
Manu Bennett as Tamati Davidson
Bill Murphy as Superintendent Walsh
Production

Directed by Peter Burger and Hannah Quinn, the six-part series is co-produced by Kōtare Productions, Keeper Pictures and Kingfisher Films, in association with Southern Light Films. The series is co-written by Anna McPartlin and Michael Bennet. Filming took place on location in Dublin, Auckland and Te Aroha. The cast is led by Acushla-Tara Kupe, Richard Flood, Manu Bennett, and Carolyn Bracken.
A second series was being filmed in February 2024.

Broadcast

The series was available in New Zealand in May 2023 on TVNZ. It was shown on RTÉ in Ireland in October 2023 and in the UK on BBC4 in March 2024.

Reception

Critical reception

in The Guardian gave the series four stars and praised the characterisations. Liam Fay in The Times praised the New Zealand landscape but felt the show consisted largely of tired television cliches.

Accolades

The series won five awards at the 2023 New Zealand Television Awards, winning Best Drama, Best Cinematography for Dave Cameron, Best Original Score for Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper, Best Costume Design for Pauline Pohatu and Best Makeup Design for Kelly Mitchell.