Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green Cloud: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green Cloud is the New Zealand story of the real Mr Asia, Marty Johnstone, and New Zealand's first ever drug cartel, The Syndicate. The story of how a boy from Auckland's North Shore became an international playboy with an industrial scale global drug empire. A true event in New Zealand's history that is almost Shakespearean in its charting of the rise and fall of this extraordinary character, who due to a penchant for his own product, and a misplaced trust in his friends, ultimately became the architect of his own demise.

Set in the 1970s when New Zealand's most notorious criminals and young entrepreneurs got together to grow a small-scale Kiwi operation that soon gained momentum, eventually spawning a cartel that spanned the globe. This is essentially a coming of age story, where sex, drugs and rock'n'roll held New Zealand in its thrall, where big dreams became a glittering reality and living in the fast lane was de rigour.

Based on true events, Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green Cloud is a six part drama series that covers the incredible events that put New Zealand's criminal world on the map, events that still resonate to this day.

Series details

• Title: Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green Cloud
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama, Crime
• Premiere date: 2011-08-17
• Final broadcast date listed: 2011-09-21
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: Three
• Network country: New Zealand
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 7917
• IMDb ID: tt1935700
• TVDB ID: 276316

Cast and credited roles

• Joel Tobeck — Gary Majors

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2011-08-17; final listed air date 2011-09-21; episode order: 6.

Source and licence

Adapted from Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green Cloud on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.