Broadchurch (Season 1)

No spoilers ahead.

There are numerous comforting things to Broadchurch but number one is definitely David Tennant; the former Doctor is back on the screen but this time, he’s not holding back that sultry Scottish accent.

Broadchurch is a British series that was at first intended to be a mini-series with just 8 episodes but due to its success it got picked up as a series. So bottom line is that Broadchurch will have a second season but here’s my attempt to summarize the first season as best as I can. Like I already mentioned, this will be a spoiler free review but look out for some major David Tennant adoring because just… look at that man!

All the important men behind Broadchurch combined have some impressive resumes with Doctor Who, Torchwood, Downton Abbey and even a bit of Sherlock: everybody has done something and a bit of everything it seems. James Strong and Euros Lyn took turns with directing after Chris Chibnall had created, produced and written it (7 out of 8 episodes to be exact). Though this crime drama has a remarkable resemblance to the Danish based American TV-show The Killing, I found that plot similarity to be rather comforting than annoying. So basically, those who liked The Killing will probably like Broadchurch as well, they are both very gloomy and tortured in a way, both have the same basic plot and both have two detectives solving a murder of a kid. Big difference is that Broadchurch was clever enough not to drag the story line too long and catch the murderer in the end of season 1. (Which makes sense as it was never intended to have a second season – duh!)

As I was saying, two detectives (actually I think they have different rankings but that’s not that important) Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) are investigating a mysterious death of an 11 year old boy in a small town called Broadchurch. Miller was supposed to have Hardy’s job but her boss basically hired the guy instead of her – because there’s always some drama around the workplace. Since it is a small town, Miller is friends with the boy’s family and Hardy is perceived kind of as the outsider. Add media problems and personal problems and family problems and a bunch of suspicious people and you have a thrilling crime series! Now, the big selling point for me was the strong cast and although I’m not as aware of British TV, I’ve learned that by watching the Baftas you pretty much get the general picture. Olivia Colman won two Baftas this year and hence my interest towards her, when I saw that she had a series with David Tennant, I was sold!

Now, I’m a weird David Tennant fan because I’ve been pushing watching Doctor Who into the future for years now. Mostly because I know the British and I know how emotional Doctor Who is – basically I haven’t felt like crying. Just watching the Doctor and Rose gif-sets on Tumblr will get me teary and I ain’t ready for that stuff, yet. That doesn’t mean I’m not a fan of Tennant – I love him because I’ve inherited those feelings from my best friend who does watch Doctor Who (good for her!), plus, I’ve seen him in talk shows and stuff. Long story short (though I kind of told the long story already); I love Tennant a lot and I’m especially fond of his Scottish accent. Broadchurch proved that all of that is indeed justified.

Olivia Colman was also great and there’s nothing bad I can say about Jodie Whittaker as the mom as well. It was rather interesting to see Arthur Darvill among the cast since he was the assistant to The Doctor that came after Tennant – so they have a connection if one likes connections. The rest of the town has other decent characters and the overall strength of the cast is not to be questioned. Besides, the story carries itself well enough to be the main focus and the plot of Broadchurch never tires itself out. As I mentioned before, the plot is very similar to The Killing but for me it didn’t really matter because it was still a very fascinating case and the mystery of the killer remained until the very end. Big points to the final episode though, it was a very unusual way of solving things and I liked that I was surprised.

That’s pretty much all I can say without going into detail and throwing spoilers but I’ll add that I recommend it. Would I highly recommend it, most probably not, because this type of crime series has a specific audience and I know not all belong to that audience. It’s totally understandable, there’s no glitter nor glamor, no overly exaggerated story lines and everything stays in the realm of everyday life logic. That is actually the scariest about Broadchurch, the fact that those things could happen and the whole plot twist in the end.. I’m not a mother but man, that would scare some pants off me!