Wellington Paranormal Season 1 Review

If you were fans of the well-meaning but oblivious Wellington police officers in the film What We Do In The Shadows, then prepare to meet your new favourite show. Officers Minogue and O’Leary first encounter with the undead yielded little more than a caution about the lack of smoke alarms in the vampire’s home. Seeing the potential in that short scene, Wellington Paranormal is a blissfully silly series powered by the comedic chemistry between the two leads.

The second spin-off from Jemaine Clement and director Taika Waititi’s hilarious mockumentary charts the weird and wonderful investigations of Wellington’s first (and only) paranormal department. Led by Sergeant Ruawai Maaka, the trio of brave officers come up against demons, ghosts, aliens, zombies, and an oddly familiar vampire they just can’t seem to place. Essentially, it’s the X-Files in a small town with plenty of the deadpan humour you’d expect from Clement and Waititi. However, it’s Minogue and O’Leary that make Wellington Paranormal an absolute comedy gem.

The mockumentary format might be a well worn one, but when it’s done well it can strike comedy gold. Wisely, Minogue and O’Leary are portrayed as highly competent officers with a laidback approach to encountering the otherworldy. In fact, they are more concerned with laws being broken than anything of a supernatural nature. As Line of Duty’s Ted Hastings would say, these officers follow the letter of the law, the letter, and that’s just as true for a human as it is a centuries-old demon.

Launching back in 2018, Wellington Paranormal is finally coming to home entertainment in the UK with Season Two available on the 6th of September, Season Three arrives on October 11 and filming recently wrapped on Season four, so there is plenty of this supremely funny series to binge-watch.

★ ★ ★ ★ 

Wellington Paranormal Season One is now available Blu-ray, DVD & Download.