CLAYBOURNE
Northern Exposure meets Stranger Things in late 90s Aotearoa, New Zealand
THE CHARACTERS
(many of whom survive…)
Northern Exposure meets Stranger Things in late 90s Aotearoa, New Zealand
The Setup
It's the late 1990s.
There's this small, coastal town in the far north of New Zealand.
It has a big satellite communications station on the hill, and yet the mobile signal is terrible. There's a local prophecy about a visitor who will break the town's curse. There's also a military AI experiment that's going quite badly.
And there's a Taniwha.
Claybourne relaunches, remastered, as a podcast in 2026.
Ninety-six episodes across twenty-four weeks.
Monday to Thursday. Exactly as it first aired in 1998.
Starting 1st June.
Greetings to you all, visitors.
Welcome to Claybourne.
(many of whom survive…)
in a world of fax machines, ashtrays and VHS tapes…
A government military conspiracy, corporate blackmail, an ancient prophecy,
a local curse, the occasional murder, a Taniwha at large…
and an unexpectedly sentient AI.
"A witty thriller that finds the extraordinary in the everyday."
"Everything I love about Northern Exposure and Twin Peaks, with Local Hero and Reservation Dogs all rolled in. Entirely its own thing, and a proper good listen."
"A 90s retro genre collision, and a love letter to rural Aotearoa."
"A love letter to classic radio drama, and now a classic in its own right. Makes you remember why the medium was invented in the first place."
"The production sounds contemporary. The themes feel prescient. You keep forgetting this was made in 1998."
New episodes Monday to Thursday from 1st June. Subscribe on Substack to get each one in your inbox, with the occasional production story, fan theories and discussion along the way.