Warren's Vortex

{{short description|New Zealand television series}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2025}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=August 2025}} {{Infobox television | image = | caption = | alt_name = | genre = {{Plainlist| * Science fiction comedy * Fantasy * Science fiction}} | creator = Nick Ward Paul Yates | based_on =  | developer = | writer = Rosie Howells Dana Leaming Jamie McCaskill Tom Sainsbury Nick Ward Paul Yates | screenplay = | story = | director =Tim Van Dammen Jason Stutter | creative_director = | presenter =  | starring = Maaka Pohatu Milo Cawthorne Louise Jiang Millen Baird | theme_music_composer = MONIKER | open_theme = | end_theme = | composer = | country = New Zealand | language = English | num_seasons = 1 | num_episodes = 6 | list_episodes = | executive_producer = | producer = Paul Yates Michelle Turner | editor = | location = Lower Hutt, Wellington, NZ | cinematography = Simon Tutty | camera = Single-camera | runtime = 6 x 23 minutes | company = Kitchen Table Productions (WV) Limited | budget = | channel = TVNZ 2 | released = | first_aired = {{Start date|df=yes|2025|8|24}} | last_aired = | related = ''Wellington Paranormal'' ''What We Do in the Shadows'' }}

'''''Warren's Vortex''''' is a New Zealand science fiction comedy television series which is due to begin screening on 24 August 2025 on TVNZ 2. The series is in the same vein as the 2018 television series ''Wellington Paranormal'', which itself is a spin-off of the 2014 film ''What We Do in the Shadows''. Unlike either of those productions, this series is a single camera narrative comedy.

The actor Maaka Pohatu, who has the title role of Warren, previously appeared as Police Sergeant Ruawai Maaka in ''Wellington Paranormal''.

==Premise== Warren Harrison is a husband and father, living in suburban Lower Hutt, New Zealand, who happens to have an interdimensional vortex in his shed. For the past twenty years, Warren has used it mainly to get rid of his garden rubbish.<ref name=MANSTAND/>

Lucy, his 18-year-old daughter, is sucked into the vortex and Warren follows her. The pair travel to a series of different future realities.<ref name=MANSTAND/> Several of the supporting cast play variations of their same character in different timelines.<ref name=NZLIST/>

==Production history== The series was created by Nick Ward and Paul Yates, both of whom were involved with ''Wellington Paranormal'' as directors and writers.<ref name=NZLIST/> In July 2024, NZ On Air was announced that the production would receive $1,227,000 of funding, though the ''New Zealand Listener'' later gave the amount as $1,465.000.<ref name=NZLIST/><ref name=NZOA/> Filming took place over the 2024–25 Christmas and New Year period across Lower Hutt. The main characters' house was filmed on location in Fairfield, with other locations including Kelson, Naenae, Taitā, and the Avalon studios.<ref name=NZLIST/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chumko |first=André |date=26 August 2025 |title=New comedy series spins New Zealand into parallel chaos |url=https://www.thepost.co.nz/culture/360801924/new-comedy-series-spins-new-zealand-parallel-chaose |access-date=2025-08-30 |website=The Post (New Zealand){{!}}}}</ref>

==Cast== ===Main=== * Maaka Pohatu as Warren Harrison * Louise Jiang as Lucy Harrison (Warren's daughter) * Kali Kopae as Hine Harrison (Warren's wife) * Ginette McDonald as Mrs Schrödinger (the Harrisons' neighbour) * Sophie Hambleton as Laurel, a family friend * Cohen Holloway as Muzz, Laurel's estranged husband * Tinorawe Hawkins as Bo, Laurel and Muzz's teenage son * Millen Baird as Inspector Phil * Milo Cawthorne as Darren * Mayen Mehta as Ian * John Bach as the Narrator

===Guest=== * Hilary Barry as Empress Gold (voice role) * Peter Hambleton as Stanky Steve * Tanea Heke as Aunty Marama * Liz Wyatt as Mombie

==Episodes==

{{Episode table |background=#FFDE00 |overall=5 |series=5 |title=30 |director=20 |writer=20 |airdate=10 |country=NZ |episodes={{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 1 |EpisodeNumber2 = 1 |Title = Desolation of Smugg |DirectedBy = Tim van Dammen |WrittenBy = Paul Yates |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|df=yes|2025|8|24}} |ShortSummary = Everyman Warren and his daughter Lucy are hurled through time to a world where intelligent refrigerators have taken over. |LineColor = FFDE00 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 2 |EpisodeNumber2 = 2 |Title = Detached from Reality |DirectedBy = Jason Stutter |WrittenBy = Dana Leaming |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|df=yes|2025|8|31}} |ShortSummary = Warren and Lucy land in a world where every Kiwi backyard has been turned into a reality TV competition and the stakes are high: you lose, you die! |LineColor = FFDE00 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 3 |EpisodeNumber2 = 3 |Title = Unreal Estate |DirectedBy = Tim Van Dammen |WrittenBy = Rosie Howells |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|df=yes|2025|9|7}} |ShortSummary = Warren and Lucy arrive in a world where all the houses are unaffordable and empty, and the real estate agents are laser-eyed robots with familiar faces. |LineColor = FFDE00 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 4 |EpisodeNumber2 = 4 |Title = Mombified |DirectedBy = Jason Stutter |WrittenBy = Jamie McCaskill |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|df=yes|2025|9|14}} |ShortSummary = Warren and Lucy return to their street to find everyone zombified by a mobile game. With the help of Darren and a guitar, they fight to snap everyone out of it. |LineColor = FFDE00 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 5 |EpisodeNumber2 = 5 |Title = Mystery at Schrodinger Hall |DirectedBy = Tim Van Dammen |WrittenBy = Nick Ward |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|df=yes|2025|9|21}} |ShortSummary = Warren and Lucy land in a 1930s murder mystery time loop. With reality fraying and tension rising, the real mystery becomes how to escape it all. |LineColor = FFDE00 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 6 |EpisodeNumber2 = 6 |Title = Lost Forward |DirectedBy = Jason Stutter |WrittenBy = Tom Sainsbury |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|df=yes|2025|9|28}} |ShortSummary = Warren and Lucy land in a cultured, rugby-free utopia. But when Warren reintroduces the sport, chaos erupts, landing him on death row. |LineColor = FFDE00 }} }}

==Broadcast== The series began broadcasting on TVNZ 2 on 24 August 2025, with catch-up availability on TVNZ's streaming service TVNZ+.<ref name=TVNZ/>

==See also== * ''Sliders'' – TV series featuring a similar plot device * ''Time Bandits'' – a film also featuring time travel

==References== <references>

<ref name=MANSTAND>{{cite news |last1=Croot |first1=James |title=Wellington Paranormal's writers have another hit on their hands |work=Manawatu Standard |date=19 August 2025 |page=16 |publisher=Stuff Limited |location=Palmerston North, NZ |issn=1176-3558|language=en}}</ref>

<ref name=NZLIST>{{cite journal |last1=Baillie |first1=Russell |title=Shed a new twilight |journal=New Zealand Listener |date=23 August 2025 |pages=49–50 |publisher=Are Media Ltd |location=Auckland, NZ |issn=2381-9553|language=en}}</ref>

<ref name=NZOA>{{cite web |title=Warren's Vortex |url=https://www.nzonair.govt.nz/search/?search_type=decisions&q=vortex |publisher=NZ on Air |access-date=23 August 2025}}</ref>

<ref name=TVNZ>{{cite web |title=Watch Warren's Vortex |url=https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/warrens-vortex |publisher=TVNZ OnDemand |access-date=23 August 2025}}</ref>

</references>

==External links== *{{IMDb title|36770799}}

Category:2025 New Zealand television series debuts Category:2020s New Zealand television series Category:2020s television series about time travel Category:Fantasy comedy television series Category:New Zealand television sitcoms Category:Television shows set in Wellington Category:TVNZ 2 original programming Category:Urban fantasy television series Category:Wellington in fiction Category:New Zealand television series about time travel Category:Television series set in 2025 Category:Television series set in 2043