Broadchurch

The Independent have made episode two of Broadchurch starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman their pick of the day for next Monday. The drama, written by Chris Chibnall, made its debut on ITV earlier this week and continues at 9pm on Monday 11th March on ITV.

The Independent say:


Broadchurch
Monday 9pm ITV

"You don't eat fish and chips? What kind of a Scot are you?" asks an exasperated DS Miller (Olivia Colman) having already had her offer of a coffee spurned by David Tennant's surly boss. The finger of suspicion points this week at the murdered boy's father, although if there's any fish being eaten around here, it's likely to be red herrings.


UK viewers can catch up with episode 1 of Broadchurch here

The region 2 DVD is released on 20th May: pre-order it here

Keep up to date with all the Broadchurch news and info here
Source: The Independent

Paddy Shennan of the Liverpool Echo has many good things to say about the new ITV drama Broadchurch. The eight part series which began last Monday stars David Tennant and Olivia Colman with Andrew Buchan, Jodie Whittaker, Arthur Darvill and Vicky McClure also among a star-studded cast.


Read what he has to say below:


It was a week when fear and suspicion hung heavy in the air – and a new ITV crime drama beat a new BBC crime drama hands down.

The first episode in the eight-parter Broadchurch (ITV1, Monday) delivered plenty and promised much more, while the Beeb’s Mayday...well, see below.

Both (Kudos-made) dramas boasted fine casts, but that was where the similarities ended. There was more depth and a better feel and better pace to Broadchurch – yes, even the slow motion bits seemed to have a bit more zip about them.

We’re in a small seaside town where everybody seems to know everybody else (how annoying must that be?) – and the calm has been shattered by the discovery of the body of 11-year-old Danny Latimer on the beach.


And, wouldn’t you just know it, this case (and no, the boy hadn’t jumped off a cliff – he was strangled) is being investigated by two detectives who happened to find themselves working together for the very first time on this very day.

David Tennant plays the mysterious new cop on the block – DI Alec Hardy, who we know has some kind of troubled past involving his role investigating a murder case for a different force (yes, this is where Broadchurch reminded me of Charlie Brooker and Dan Maier’s excellent cop show parody from last year, A Touch of Cloth).

Meanwhile, Olivia Colman is DS Ellie Miller. She’s on her first day back after maternity leave and miffed because she thought she’d be the new DI. And to add to the intrigue, her son, Tom, also happened to be Danny’s best friend.

Yes, things can get very complicated in a small town.

Danny’s mum, Beth, and dad, Mark, are played by Jodie Whittaker (she was excellent in Marchlands and she’s excellent here) and Andrew Buchan, whose finest moment comes in a tender, touching and heartbreaking scene when dad talks to his dead son after identifying his body.

The top-notch cast also includes Vicky McClure, of This Is England fame. Hopefully, she won’t end up being undersold by her character, a ruthless and nasty national newspaper reporter (no stereotype here, then) who we see stealing a cuddly toy left at the murder scene by the boy’s grieving sister.

But there is a little humour along the way – Olly Stevens (Jonathan Bailey), an extremely ambitious reporter on the Broadchurch Echo, is shown looking a little put out when he learns he’s been turned down for a job.

“B*****ds!” he says.
The newspaper in question? The Daily Mail.
Cheer up, Olly, you’ve had a lucky escape!

Watch episode two of Broadchurch on Monday 11th March on ITV at 9pm
Find out more about Broadchurch here
Source: Liverpool Echo

The Sun has chosen Episode Two Of Broadchurch as their TV Pick Of The Day for Monday 11th March 2013.
The show will air on ITV tomorrow night at 9pm. The following article contains spoilers....

________________________________________________________________


Pick Of The Day: Broadchurch 9pm ITV

DI Alec Hardy and DS Ellie Miller are no nearer to catching Danny Latimer's killer, but they're pretty close to strangling each other. However, as this gripping crime drama continues for a while yet, the duo will have to put their differences aside. Ellie might be in luck though, as Alec seems to be plagued by funny turns, causing him to pop a series of mystery pills and hold on to furniture to steady himself. He's also knocked for six when visiting phone engineer Steve (Will Mellor), reveals that he's received psychic messages from the murder victim.
A little more helpfully, Danny's family have compiled their own whodunnit list, featuring pretty much everyone they know. Ellie suspects it's part of the Laitmers' grieving process, but Alec concludes they're trying to divert attention away from themselves.
Could a member of Danny's family be responsible for his death?

The Guardian have made episode two of Broadchurch one of their TV Highlights of today. Read what they have to say about it below:

Broadchurch 9pm, ITV
Down in Dorset, the mystery surrounding Danny Latimer's death only deepens. You can tell by the way DS Ellie Miller grows irritated at DI Alec Hardy's "incessant list question thing". Meantime, Danny's family have compiled a roster of suspects. It's made up of their friends. If all that makes the pacing of Broadchurch sound slow, it's actually gripping, evidence of a series confidently rationing its revelations. Proceedings are also helped by nuanced central performances from Olivia Colman and a haunted-looking David Tennant.

Broadchurch stars David Tennant and Olivia Colman with Arthur Darvill, Jodie Whittaker, Andrew Buchan and Vicky McClure. Watch episode two on ITV tonight at 9pm

Keep up with all the latest Broadchurch news here
Source: The Guardian

TV viewers will have another seven weeks to wait to discover the identity of the killer in the new ITV drama series Broadchurch. However, even during filming the cast and crew were kept in the dark until the very last hours before the crucial final scenes were shot.

Broadchurch follows the investigation into the murder of an eleven year old boy in a picturesque seaside town. It’s a small, close knit community, and the next few weeks will find the finger of suspicion being pointed at a number of key residents. The producers are keen to keep audiences guessing right till the very end of the series, even eschewing the usual ‘Next Week’ trailers at the end of each episode. And as writer and executive producer Chris Chibnall tells the Daily Mail, he also kept the secret from his cast over five months of filming, prompting an on set sweepstake among the actors and crew.

He said: “We adopted the kind of security you’d normally associate with a massive Hollywood movie. All of the scripts on set were kept in a safe, watermarked so they couldn’t be copied, and there were only five people, including myself, who knew the full story.
“For 85 per cent of filming, no one had any idea who was guilty. The cast and crew set up a rogues’ gallery and took bets on who they thought it was, but I was determined that secrecy was the key to the drama’s success.”

He had planned a group meeting to reveal the answers decided against it at the last minute.
“As we were coming to the point where we had to give people final scripts, I organised for everyone to meet at the beach so that I could tell them,” he explained. “But on set the night before, so many people admitted they liked the suspense and didn’t want to know who it was that when I arrived I told them I’d changed my mind.
“Olivia Colman, who plays one of the investigating police officers, looked like she was ready to murder me, while David Tennant grabbed hold of me and said he couldn’t believe I wasn’t going to tell him. But then he admitted he was actually glad.”

In the end the actors were told on a ‘need-to-know’ basis only hours before they were due on set. David himself has said that not knowing the outcome was of great benefit to his performance:

“If you are playing someone who is investigating a crime and the crime is actually unfolding as you go from an acting point of view, that’s very helpful as you can’t second guess. When you’re playing those initial interviews with characters and you genuinely don’t know what the truth is you can’t load those scenes with ‘actorly’ tricks; you have to play it for what it is which can only make it more real. You can be as exasperated about the mystery of the characters as the audience will be.”


Read the full Daily Mail article here

Broadchurch is an eight part ITV drama starring David Tennant as DI Alec Hardy and Olivia Colman as DS Ellie Miller, two police detectives who are thrown together to solve a boy’s murder. Other cast includes Jodie Whittaker and Andrew Buchan as the boy’s parents, Arthur Darvill as the trendy footballing vicar, Vicky McClure as a snooping national journalist, Pauline Quirke as a mysterious loner and Will Mellor as a suspicious telephone engineer.

The series continues at 9pm on ITV on Monday 11th March

Keep up to date with all the latest news and informatiion about Broadchurch here

The Guardian have today posted a video review round up of last week's TV hosted by Andrew Collins. The first section of the video features a number of clips from the first episode of Broadchurch, which Andrew describes as "event TV".

Watch the video here

UK viewers can catch up on the first two episodes of Broadchurch on ITV player

The series continues on ITV on Monday 18th March at 9pm as detectives Hardy (David Tennant) and Miller (Olivia Colman) follow up the shocking evidence that was uncovered in the hut. Click here to keep up to date with all the latest Broadchurch news and information.

Read our review of episode two of Broadchurch, the gripping ITV drama series starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman. This review contains spoilers for the episode which aired last night on ITV.

Broadchurch
Episode Two

The second episode of Broadchurch proved that this is more than a simple whodunit as the drama continues to explore the impact of a shocking tragedy on the rest of the community, of an extraordinary event in a very ordinary setting, and also sets up a myriad of mysteries to be slowly unpicked over the coming weeks. There are many more questions than answers, but at the quarter point of an eight part drama that is just how things should stand.

Forty eight hours have passed since the body of young Danny Latimer was found on the beach and the town is still reeling from shock, ripples spreading out from the event, touching and affecting everyone in its wake, emotionally and financially, and rocking their trust in their neighbours. Early tensions are starting to bubble to the surface - the angry businessman in the bar, the frightened family who corner Ellie in a café – perhaps early signs that something big is brewing in this formerly peaceful and settled place. Local vicar Paul Coates (Arthur Darvill) tries to preach calm and support to the population, but his message only reaches the ears of a tiny fraction of them. Most are disinterested in what he has to say.

Detectives DI Hardy and DS Miller (David Tennant and Olivia Colman) are stepping up their investigation and still circling one another warily. “I don’t drink coffee” he snaps to her proffered peace offering. “Of course you don’t” she responds equally curtly. Ellie tries in vain through her natural empathy and kindness to crack the hard shell of the inflexible Hardy, but she cannot accept his emotionless insistence that she step outside her community to get a clear picture of what is going on. Even Ellie can’t be a saint forever and she berates him for his rudeness on more than one occasion, although it apparently does little good. He has his detective hat too firmly on his head even to accept her offer of a chip shop supper with good grace. The tension in their working relationship is never far from the surface, but in spite of their differences their enquiries are making progress, and their leads throw up questions about a number of members of the community, some of which are uncomfortably close to home.

The Latimer family are still numb with shock. Jodie Whittaker as Beth continues to excel as the grieving mother, particularly when a quest for a few moments of normality leads to a public meltdown in a beautifully set up moment in the mundane setting of the local supermarket. Andrew Buchan as Mark is quietly simmering with hurt and rage, and it is inevitable that the explosion will come eventually. When it does it is shocking that it is the community’s embodiment of peace and love that he targets. But what is more astounding is that neither of their children are innocents apparently, as the police search of the house reveals.

The press, of course, are still sniffing around, and it’s clear that they are still very much portrayed as the bad guys. Ambitious Olly (Jonathan Bailey) is keen to get in with national reporter Karen (Vicky McClure), even if it means betraying his home town to do so. Karen is worryingly creepy as she starts to worm her way into Chloe’s (Charlotte Beaumont) trust.

Two of the more mysterious characters instantly arouse suspicion. Pauline Quirke is loner Susan, an unpleasant character who is as rude and abrupt as Hardy himself, who reveals to the audience that she has something that the police are looking for stashed in the cupboard in her caravan. Meanwhile telephone engineer Steve Connelly (Will Mellor) puts himself straight under police scrutiny when he claims to be receiving messages from Danny from beyond the grave. The claim is received with a volcanic explosion of contempt from Hardy – that is until Connelly fires a parting shot back at him that sends him reeling.

The questions mount up. What is behind the story about the postman that paper shop owner Jack (David Bradley) tells Hardy? Why can’t Beth confess her secret to her family? Where was Mark really on the night of Danny’s death? What happened after the CCTV footage ran out? Why did Danny have all that money? What is Ellie’s son Tom (Adam Wilson) so scared of? How did Susan come by Danny’s possessions? A print off of Danny’s Facebook statuses reveals that he had information on people. Will this be the key to discovering the killer?

And what of Hardy himself? Slowly his own secrets start to emerge. It’s known that he came to Broadchurch under the cloud of his previous investigation. Is the memory of what happened there the cause of his apparent panic attacks, his vertigo and his pill popping? Or was this the cause of his earlier professional failure? Who is the girl whose picture he carries in his wallet? A sister? A daughter, even? What is the significance of the pendant? It’s clear that the identity of the demons that haunt Hardy will not become known for some time, but these moments allow Tennant to show glimpses of a more fragile, vulnerable side to the otherwise steely Hardy.

Episode two effortlessly sets up these questions and leaves them tantalisingly unanswered. It also ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger, and one last question – surely we don’t know the identity of the killer already?

Watch episode 3 of Broadchurch on Monday 18th March at 9pm on ITV

Find out more about the series here

Broadchurch held onto the top spot in the 9pm ratings slot last night for ITV. Episode two of the eight part crime drama, created by Chris Chibnall and starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman, was watched by 5.78 million viewers (23.2% of the audience share) at 9pm. A further 606k (3.7%) catching up via +1 giving a total figure for the evening of 6.39m.

The second part of the BBC One murder mystery Shetland also performed strongly, attracting 5m viewers (20.1%). Channel 4's Embarrassing Bodies was watched by 1.84m (7.4%) while This World: A History Of Syria With Dan Snow on BBC Two drew in 1.41m (5.7%). Robson's Extreme Fishing Challenge on Channel 5 reached 860k. BBC Three's documentary Oscar Pistorius: What Really Happened? drew in an audience of 1.07m (4.3%).

Broadchurch continues on Monday 18th March at 9pm on ITV. Click here to keep up to date with all the latest Broadchurch news.

Source: Digital Spy

Broadchurch actress Pauline Quirke is featured in the new issue of TV Times (16-22 March)
Broadchurch continues on Monday 18th March at 9pm on ITV.

Episode Three of Broadchurch is the TV Times Pick Of The Day For Monday 18th March.
Broadchurch continues on Monday 18th March at 9pm on ITV.

Episode Three of Broadchurch is one of the Radio Times Choices to watch on Monday 18th March.
Spoilers follow.
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They say:
Fingerprints at the crime scene lead DI Hardy and DS Miller to a shocking suspect in Danny's murder - his father. When questioned, Mark explains he had been there recently to repair a boiler, but his alibi for the night of the murder quickly falls apart. Meanwhile, Steve Connelly approaches Beth claiming to have a message - from her dead son. Detective drama, starring David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Andrew Buchan, Jodie Whittaker and Will Mellor.

Broadchurch continues on Monday 18th May at 9pm on ITV

Olivia Colman has been chatting to the London Evening Standard about her time with David Tennant on the set of their new ITV drama Broadchurch and how she helped to 'protect' David from some of his more ardent followers. She says:
“Working with David is heaven. He is the nicest man in the world, but he gets crowds of people wherever he goes. He is terribly patient and charming and lovely with them, so I’m afraid I got a little bit defensive on his behalf.
He was trying to put a microphone on down through his shirt and down through his trousers. He was rummaging around there and this woman just took a photo right in front of his face while he was doing it. He was trying to be charming, but he had his hands down his pants. I stood in front of him, put my arm out and said, ‘No!’ She was a bit surprised at the reaction. I don’t think they were expecting him to have protection.”

You can read the rest of the article on the London Evening Standard website here.

Preparing for his role in Broadchurch Andrew Buchan spent time on the Jurassic coast where filming took place. “I wanted to nip down and see where I’d be spending the next four months of my life.” He explains. “It’s one thing reading the script but I needed to see it to understand it I suppose. You spend half an hour in a taxi bumbling through cosy countryside and then arrive at these huge Jurassic cliffs; quite bleak and terrifying to look at. And quite unsettling with nine foot waves crashing at their feet and birds swirling over the tops. Just watching life unfold there seemed a drama in itself. The nests that people had carved out for themselves around these cliffs, brief flickers of life here and there, old people minding their own in coffee shops, a work van here and there, a crumpled up taxi, two ice cream vendors battling each other for business. It was all life in slow motion. Where any goings on are immediately amplified.”

The authenticity of the script attracted Andrew to the role of Mark Latimer, “Chris Chibnall, the writer, has tried to encompass all the spheres that are affected by this one incident. The community aspect of this is key, as all of a sudden people’s everyday lives are placed under a very large magnifying glass. People’s awareness is heightened and everyone is to blame. It's a very unsettling environment to be in, with everyone constantly on a knife edge, so people you previously had a friendship with or trusted have gone, and lots of bonds disintegrate.”
He continues: “A part like this is so rare and challenging. You have to treat it with the utmost respect for people who have been through this in real life. You can research it 24 hours a day but still never really know the truth of what people have gone through. Jodie (Whittaker) and I did research it a lot and certainly tried to be as close and as accurate as we could. When someone dies instantly there’s a well of grief and disbelief which is unfathomable. And when murder is involved, that just takes it into a whole new place. There is an extra dimension you just can’t understand, or deal with.”
Talking about his character in the drama, Andrew says: “Mark is quite an angry individual on the inside. He does like to box things up and shelve them away inside himself. His first instinctis always to fly off the handle and maybe think about it later. The other key thing with Mark and Beth is that they are in a broken relationship. There's a distance between them, a coldness and great deal of regret. They married young. And nowadays barely communicate."
For Andrew the biggest challenge is accurately portraying this level of grief. “There have been some hard scenes, some very hard scenes. There hasn't been one day where I have come in and thought ‘yeah, this will be fine’. I had a slight fear of each scene, it's not the kind of material you can relax into or make predictions about how it might play. You go into each scene not knowing if you're going to be a lump of tears at the end of it or grabbing your best mate by the throat.”
So how did Andrew deal with portraying that level of grief?
“It leaves you feeling pretty raw and exhausted, but nothing that a big tea and a hot shower couldn't sort. Some days you'd feel dry from crying so much the day before, and some days you wouldn't be able to stop yourself. We were all walking wrecks. Thankfully though, outside filming, Jodie is one of the funniest girls on the planet. So there was never a danger of spirits getting too low!"

Broadchurch continues on Monday 18th March at 9pm on ITV

The second episode of Broadchurch was received well by TV critics, with most praising the way that the series had maintained its momentum, atmosphere and strength of writing from episode one. We've collected together some of the week's reviews. Be aware that most contain spoilers if you're not up to date with the series.

Episode two saw detectives Hardy and Miller (David Tennant and Olivia Colman) starting to chase up the first leads that they hope will reveal the killer of eleven year old Danny Latimer. A search of the Latimer's house uncovers a couple of surprising items while the discovery of a cliff top hut brings the police to their first real suspect.


The Independent
Daisy Wyatt in the Independent feels that the episode veers from soap opera to magical realism and surrealism at times. “But then,” she says, “In a rural idyll such as Broadchurch, nothing is what it seems”

Read the full review here


The Daily Mail
The Mail say:

At last, a reason to love Mondays again. ITV’s new crime series, Broadchurch, is simply brilliant. David Tennant and Olivia Colman are sublime and the plot utterly gripping.
We haven’t had this much reason to look forward to Mondays since the late and much lamented Spooks. Already, I never want Broadchurch to end.

Source: The Daily Mail


Metro
Metro give a brief summary of the episode:

Many a murder thriller opens with intrigue, only for its vice-like grip to quickly loosen. But not so with episode two of Broadchurch (ITV), which cranked up the tension with subtle clues, brief snatches of fresh characters and a sure-footed sense of what pumps the lifeblood in a small community.

The fact this story unfolds over eight episodes means there’s room to flesh out the humanity behind the horror. The moving scene where grieving mother Beth (Jodie Whittaker) had a meltdown in her local supermarket may not have moved the plot forward but it was crucial in forging an emotional connection to the story.

Broadchurch gives us space to speculate on all sorts of possible chicanery going down behind its respectable façade. Randy vicar? Closeted gay husband? Psychic copper? Everyone is in the frame.

Source: Metro


Den Of Geek
Den of Geek’s comprehensive review praises the drama for maintaining the high standard of its opening episode.

They say:
The riches of its cast aside, where Broadchurch leans away from the majority of mainstream detective drama is its interest in life after death. I don’t mean in the literal, chatting-with-the-deceased supernatural crime show, but in the script’s desire to realistically inhabit the skin of a community after a loss.

Olivia Colman as DI Miller is still the beating heart of Broadchurch, and her double act with Tennant’s Hardy remains a chief attraction.

Read the full review at Den Of Geek


The Huffington Post
For Caroline Frost of the Huffington Post: It’s All About The Silences

She says:
"When ITV do it well, they do it really well. What is setting 'Broadchurch' apart thus far is a confidence in that quietness between conversations, the pace unhurried, the writer Chris Chibnall showing his trust in the actors to do his bidding."

Read more here


Cultfix
From Cultfix:

"David Tennant is once more brilliant as the stiff Scotsman DI Hardy with hints emerging about some dark secret in his past, and the character of the scene-stealing Olivia Colman is developed, with the actress on top form as usual."

Read the full review at Cultfix


Get all the news and information about Broadchurch on our programme pages

Reviews from the press for David Tennant and Olivia Colman's new drama Broadchurch have been consistently good and it seems that the praise has gone one step further as The Guardian are tipping the show for success at next year's Broadcasting Press Guild Awards.

In the Media Blog John Plunkett says:
ITV missed out on a nomination this year but will surely be a contender next time round with the David Tennant and Olivia Colman crime drama Broadchurch already a big hit two episodes into its eight-part run.

Broadchurch continues on ITV on Monday 18th March at 9pm

The Sun's TV Magazine has selected Episode Three Of Broadchurch as one of it's TV Picks Of The Day for Monday.

Spoilers follow...

They say:
With Mark still refusing to reveal his wereabouts on the night his son was killed, detective duo Alec and Ellie drag the suspect down to the station to see if they can jog his memory. But he's not they only one being interrogated as Alec also puts Tom under the spotlight, much to Ellie's annoyance.
Elsewhere, psychic phone engineer Steve continues to deliver spine chilling warnings from the dead - this time he has a message about the killer's identity for Beth. As the mystery deepens, prepare to be seriously spooked....

Broadchurch continues on Monday 18th March at 9pm on ITV.

Find out more about Broadchurch on our website here.

Broadchurch actor Will Mellor will be a guest on Monday's Loose Women on ITV from 12.30pm. He will be in the studio to talk about his role as psychic phone engineer, Steve, in the drama.
Steve is brought to the forefront of the drama in tomorrow night's episode as he reveals to Danny's mum Beth that he's been receiving messages from the dead child.

Broadchurch continues on Monday 18th March at 9pm on ITV.

Find out more about Broadchurch on our website here.

The following episode synopsis may contain spoilers. Do not read on if you don't want to know what will happen in Episode Four of David Tennant's new ITV drama Broadchurch.

Broadchurch continues on Monday 25th March at 9pm on ITV1.

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Local journalist Olly investigates Jack, the newsagent for whom Danny did a paper round - and discovers a suspicious previous conviction. Meanwhile, Beth and Mark try to get more national press coverage of their son's death in an attempt to find his killer, and Hardy goes for dinner with Miller and her husband, but blacks out in his hotel room later that evening.


To find out more and see photos, videos etc about the series visit our Broadchurch section here.

Read our review of episode three of Broadchurch below. Please be aware that the review contains spoilers if you haven't watched the drama yet.


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The theme of self-punishment featured strongly in episode three of Broadchurch as the clues stacked up and the police pulled in their first real suspect.

All evidence seemed to point towards accused father Mark Latimer (Andrew Buchan), who maintained that he had been out with a mate that night. Detectives Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) pushed his shaky alibi aside with ease – asking the world’s worst liar to account for his whereabouts was probably a big mistake on his part –and there was no professional explanation for him being in the hut either. So, did the police have their culprit? With another five full episodes to go, common sense would say no. It would seem relatively easy for Latimer to name his witness and save his own skin, but his dream in the opening moments and his own breakdown in the interrogation room indicated that he considered himself worthy of punishment. He betrayed his family on that one occasion, and it was the occasion on which his son had needed his protection the most. In his mind his incarceration was a deserved penalty.




DI Hardy too was apparently making amends for past deeds. Journalist Karen White (Vicky McClure) has hinted at the extent of his failure in his past job. A clandestine meeting with his doctor (Moray Hunter) showed that he is a sick man, but he refuses to step down from his role. He hates the job and the place and the people, and the stress could kill him. But whatever the circumstances are behind his transfer to Broadchurch, Hardy has set himself a purpose for continuing with his investigations. It’s penance, he explains, weightily, brooding in the semi-darkness over his past deeds and his own fate. David Tennant, as we know, does tortured brooding particularly well.

Meanwhile, self-proclaimed psychic Steve Connelly (Will Mellor) is targeting Beth (Jodie Whittaker) with what appears to be some typically exploitative guesswork. Beth is certainly after some sort of sign, and the platitudes offered by vicar Paul Coates (Arthur Darvill) aren’t going to be enough, so against her better judgement she lets Connelly into her confidence. However his message to Hardy last week must have hit a nerve as the otherwise sceptical detective is inspired to follow up on his boat comment. Yes, it turns out, Mark has a boat. The boat is smeared with blood. The blood is Danny’s. Mark has been violent towards Danny in the past. And is that coincidence – in a seaside town it’s not beyond credibility that many of the residents will own a boat – or does this mean that Steve’s messages are going to be treated with some credibility? A boat is burnt at the end of the episode. It could be Mark’s. Or it could be someone else’s, spooked that the investigation in the harbour is getting a little close for comfort.




So with Mark Latimer, for now, seemingly off the hook, a number of questions are still left unanswered. There’s that skateboard that oddball loner Susan (Pauline Quirke) has in her cupboard. Danny’s perhaps, but then every kid in town seems to hang out round the skate park, so it could belong to any one of them. How was it that Mark’s daughter Chloe (Charlotte Beaumont) knew about his liaison with hotelier Becca (Simone McAullay) but wife Beth was clueless? What else is she prepared to cover up for her father? How did Mark’s fingerprints come to be all over the hut? Why does a plumber’s mate have a crossbow in his van? What does paper shop owner Jack (David Bradley) have against the press? Why does Olly (Jonathan Bailey) seem so twitchy over that business with his mum? And can the Miller family, Ellie and husband Joe (Matthew Gravelle) really be that nice and decent and perfect, or is their a darker side to them too that we have yet to observe?

Amongst all the relentless grimness there are moments of lightness. Police family liaison officer Pete (Marcus Garvey) is never without a soothing cup of tea to hand and an inappropriate comment tumbling from his lips. And Hardy and Miller are still rubbing one another up the wrong way, and at times their sniping provides the some of the scant comic relief – Hardy’s horror at being asked to dinner raises a welcome smile in a fairly tense episode. His never-ending capacity for rudeness and inability to converse even on the most basic terms with normal, decent human beings exasperates even the most forgiving woman in the world. “Knob!” she mutters as they lurch to the end of yet another awkward and mismatched exchange. Still, she got one up on him on the boat, him crouching terrified on the RIB as she hopped confidently from vessel to vessel.




Big hearted Ellie - and surely someone so personally close to the suspect wouldn’t be allowed to be anywhere near that interview room in her professional capacity - is loath to believe that any of her friends could be guilty of the crime. But, the increasingly short-tempered Hardy is fast losing patience with her: she’s more like Mark Latimer’s solicitor, he accuses. In turn she is horrified of his insensitive handling of her own son’s feelings. He hates the over-familiar way that they work in Broadchurch, and she hates his icy detachment and his refusal to acknowledge that they are dealing with real people and not just suspects.

There are five more episodes of Broadchurch to go, yet it hardly seems long enough to unpick all of the secrets of the town and its residents. But one thing is for sure, someone knows the darkest secret of all and it’s only going to be a matter of time before that person shows their hand.



Watch episode 4 of Broadchurch on ITV at 9pm on Monday 25th March

UK viewers can catch up with past episodes via ITV player

Pre-order your copy of Broadchurch on DVD here

Broadchurch is an eight-part crime drama created for ITV by Chris Chibnall. It stars David Tennant and Olivia Colman as two police detectives investigating the murder of a child in a Dorset seaside town, and also features Andrew Buchan, Arthur Darvill, Jodie Whittaker, Pauline Quirke, Will Mellor, David Bradley and Vicky McClure. Find out more here

The BBC Shop are offering a special discount to their customers - an extra 10% off the current selling price of everything in store. The offer runs until midnight tomorrow (Wednesday 20th March) so make sure you get your orders in quickly.

There's plenty for David Tennant fans to choose from - not only are there Doctor Who DVDs, but you'll also find the likes of Hamlet, Single Father and Spies Of Warsaw. The offer applies to other products too, so check out the range action figures and audiobooks. You can also get savings on David's newest work : Broadchurch, Penguins: Spy In The Huddle and The Politician's Husband are all available to pre-order now.

To claim your discount simply enter the word TREAT at the checkout under 'Redeem a promotional code'

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Episode Four of Broadchurch is a Radio Times Pick Of The Day for Monday 25th March.
Broadchurch continues on Monday 25th March at 9pm on ITV.
For all the latest on Broadchurch visit our website here.

Episode Four of Broadchurch is previewed in the latest issue of What's On TV.
Broadchurch continues on Monday 25th March at 9pm on ITV.

For all the latest on Broadchurch visit our website here.

As well as featuring a photo of David Tennant on the cover, the new issue of TV Times has selcted Episode Four of Broadchurch as it's Pick Of The Day for Monday 25th March.

Broadchurch continues on Monday 25th March at 9pm on ITV.
For all the latest on Broadchurch visit our website here.

The stunning scenery of David Tennant's new drama Broadchurch is drawing as much attention as the show's star studded cast.
The Sun reports that during the first episode, hits on West Bay’s website peaked at 200 per minute as viewers were keen to find out more about the location. Tourist board Visit Dorset also saw an increase in online traffic.
Broadchurch is filmed in West Bay, Dorset, and locals there are sure there will be a tourism boom as fans of the show are keen to explore the locations used.
Steve Jones is manager of West Bay’s Bridport Arms Hotel, where several members of the cast stayed during filming.
Speaking to The Sun Steve said:
“It was great to see stars like David Tennant in the village. All the actors and crew were very friendly.
Weather-wise the last three summers haven’t been great but I’m hoping that seeing our town on TV will encourage more people to visit."

West Bay is so small it doesn’t even have a police station so the crew had to borrow a local cafe’s store room to turn it into the show’s police HQ.
Steve Tucker, owner of the seafront Ellipse cafe, allowed scenes to be filmed on-site and his staff ended up playing extras.
Steve, 51, said: “The crew turned the round building containing our store room into Broadchurch police station. We’ve had several customers asking if this is where the TV show was filmed.
“David Tennant would regularly stop in for his morning coffee and we were invited to a private viewing of the first episode."

Certain scenes were filmed in Clevedon, Somerset, but Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall, who lives in Bridport, Dorset, hopes his love for his home town shines through in the series.
He said: “Broadchurch is a love letter to the scenery of the Jurassic Coast and uses key West Dorset landmarks in its story. The landscape informs the drama. The cliffs, the sea, the beach are all key elements of what is going on.”


Visit Dorset are offering competitions with the chance to win a “Broadchurch break”.

Click here to enter.

ITV murder mystery Broadchurch topped its slot-winning ratings figures by drawing in over a million more viewers this week than it did for the previous two episodes. Episode 3 was watched by over 7.3 million viewers (30.9% of the audience share), easily winning the 9pm slot for the third week in a row. A further 241,000 watched on +1. Overall Broadchurch totalled 7.63 million viewers (32%) and was the fourth most viewed programme last night, beaten only by the two episodes of Coronation Street and Eastenders. It seems that more people are becoming intrigued by the ongoing whodunnit, though the ratings won't have been harmed by the BBC dropping their tactic of scheduling the second part of a rival drama in the same slot.

The BBC's 9pm offering this week, Motorway Cops, drew in only 3.08m (12.9%).On Channel 4 Embarrassing Bodies attracted 1.77m (7.4%) while 1.01m (4.2%) watched Robson's Extreme Fishing Challenge.

Consolidated figures for the first two episodes of Broadchurch (including views from such as PVRs within seven days of the original broadcast) are:

Episode One (Monday 4th March) - 9.07 million (31%)
Episode Two (Monday 11th March) - 9.01million (30.5%)

Broadchurch continues on ITV at 9pm on Monday 25th March

Broadchurch stars David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Arthur Darvill, Jodie Whittaker and Andrew Buchan. Find out more about the series here

It's the question on the nation's lips, who killed Danny Latimer?, but Broadchurch actress Olivia Colman, DS Ellie Miller in the show, is so scared of giving the killer's identity away that she doesn't want to talk about it!
Speaking to the Radio Times at last night's Royal Television Society Awards Olivia said:
"I’m not saying anthing. I’ve signed so many secret documents and I’m so likely to muck it up. Please don’t ask me!"
She did however admit that she's thrilled with the public's positive reaction to Broadchurch saying:
"Everyone's really liked it." She then admitted that she only looks at reviews if "they're nice." "Often I don’t and my husband will say ‘Oh it’s alright, you can have a look at these.'”
It was a good night for Olivia as she went home with the Best Actress Award for her role in Accused.

Broadchurch continues at 9pm on Monday 25th March on ITV

Comedienne Sarah Millican has reviewed Broadchurch for her Radio Times column, read what she has to say below:


Crime has always left me cold. Whether it’s the real thing or something a writer has created for us to read or watch on the box. To me it’s still crime and therefore rather distasteful. Did I mention I’m a bit of a prude?
I always thought I had a strong stomach due to a terrible acne problem with no qualms about squeezing. But then I did work experience in a veterinary hospital where I saw what real pus looked like. I was pale and wobbly for three days until the receptionist said she needed me to label bottles for two days. I could have kissed her.
I always shy away from the details in proper crime stories. I never want to look at anyone’s scar. If I kill a spider, I never reopen the tissue once the deed is done. I don’t even like sniffing milk. So it takes a lot for me to watch a crime series. That’s what I’m saying. And even then I’ll need something to hide behind and potentially some smelling salts to bring me round (anything from Lush works, too).
It’s also good to have a companion who will still watch the ick while you are inspecting the fine stitching on this here cushion. I mean, what is that? Slip stitch? By hand? Oh, I can look up now? Thanks.
I have spoken on this page before about tricking one’s partner into watching YOUR telly programme. Who knew Broadchurch (Mondays ITV) would be such an easy sell? It’s all in the summing up. “It’s got the Doctor and the lady off Peep Show in it?”, I shout from the living room. He comes bundling in, book in hand for safety, thoroughly expecting some kind of comedy sci-fi thing with lots of alien inner monologue.
He’s not disappointed. Not because he got what he wanted (that programme is still begging to be made, though) but because what is there is just very good. Gently acted by brilliant people. An intriguing set-up played out tantalisingly. Crucially, not much ick so far, either.
And as we both remarked during an ad break, where on earth is it filmed? We would definitely like to go on holiday there. Deaths aside, that beach is beautiful. There should be a helpline at the end: “If you’ve been affected by anything you’ve just seen, please contact our helplines for counselling – and advice on the best summer breaks.”

Journalism is not a career that Vicky McClure was cut out for but in Broadchurch she plays a national news reporter on the trail of a story.

“It was never something I thought about doing nor would it be something I'd want to get involved in. I think it takes a very specific person to be a journalist and I'm just not that person,” says Vicky.
“But in Broadchurch I think you will see that Karen is very dedicated to her job, but also conscious of the position she holds. She can be ruthless but I wanted to try and show she felt real sympathy for the family too.”

Talking more about her character Vicky continues: “I think Karen probably started off on her local paper in the Midlands and made her way up to the Herald. She is a determined woman, who really enjoys her job but she is also very human. “With the Leveson inquiry going on while we were filming it was quite interesting portraying a reporter on this sort of case. She's definitely one that needs to get the story out there but she is very aware of how families are affected by the death of a child in the long run and she is cautious with that. Karen is a good person but being a journalist she also has that job to fulfil. The look of Karen is totally different to the other roles I’ve played; I imagined her to be quite feminine. The styling always adds that extra layer to your characters. I think when I look at Karen now she has had some moments when she has shown signs of being a tough journalist, trying to make a bit of a name for herself. Continually wanting to be the best she can has sometimes meant she has done things that perhaps she wouldn't want to have done but I think she has tried to stay as true to herself as she can. She has previously come across Hardy in connection with another case, details of that encounter are revealed throughout the series and that adds an extra twist.”

What part does Karen play in the overall story?
“She is an outsider. Karen's role in Broadchurch is to highlight the journalistic side of cases like this and how the media do completely dominate certain areas. I have a lot of scenes with Jonathan Bailey and Caroline Pickles as they're the local newspaper reporter and editor and we end up connecting. It's a really interesting group, and there have been lighter moments with us three because we are not connected to the families in such a direct way.”

So did Vicky undertake any research for the role?
"I understand that actors go away and research certain roles and think it is really vital in some cases. When I played Lol in This is England I didn’t research everything she was going through, I had a good idea, had spoken to a few people about certain things like postnatal depression but I just believed it and lived it. So basically I just tried to create the character of Karen through the script. Chris Chibnall had done a hell of a lot of research so it all feeds into the script. Plus I've met journalists before and got on really well with them, we’ve built up good relationships and they have written exactly what I've said. It is just frustrating how things are twisted sometimes so I can appreciate that frustration and there are certainly moments of that in the show when what is put in the headlines dominates the actions that next occur. So the portrayal is a mixture of what’s on the page and what I know.”

You spent a lot of time filming on location in the West Country, what were the highs and lows for you?
“The highlight was my week long stay in the caravan park where we filmed. I didn't have many scenes that week so had a lovely time by the sea. The West Country is a beautiful place to film. The low point was the last scene we shot on the beach. The weather wasn't great and we were all holding these lanterns but the wax was going everywhere and I just imagined my hair extensions catching fire!”

Thanks to ITV

Writer Chris Chibnall took time off from work on his new BBC project The Great Train Robbery this week to have a lengthy chat with Luke from Custard TV about his highly acclaimed drama Broadchurch. The conversation also covered working with David Tennant and about the current state of UK TV Drama.

Chris wouldn’t be drawn on the identity of the killer (or killers, as he teased), and stressed that they had taken a lot of precautions to ensure the secret would not be revealed. However, he explained that Broadchurch is more than just a murder mystery:
“Even if it’s leaked tomorrow there is more to the piece than that,” He said, “It’s not about an identity, the story is about the effects of the event on the community and the last episodes are more than just the reveal.”

Chris revealed that he had originally planned Broadchurch to be a ten part drama, but ITV only agreed eight, but this in itself said a lot about their confidence in the project. Also it was never designed to be a returning franchise but as a one-off story.

He also had great things to say about David Tennant:

“James Strong and I keep coming back to him. David is the best actor he can do anything, he’s really, really versatile. And the thing about David that is probably a bit underappreciated is that he really works incredibly hard at the very small details of the character. The things he’s done with Hardy, that took me a few weeks to notice on the rushes, he’s slightly changed his metabolism, and the way he walks and the way he blinks … It’s a really different character and he was really up for doing something different. He has worked so hard at the detail of that character and it looks effortless, and I’m absolutely certain that he’s put in such immense thought and detail and preparation into that character to make it look like that.
“He likes to be challenged and he doesn’t want to repeat himself …it’s a very different character to the Tenth Doctor. He can bring such truth and humanity. You feel like you know the character when David portrays it, he brings such depth. I truly feel he’s such a special actor and I feel lucky to be a writer when he’s an actor. He makes us all look good.”

Chris, the cast and crew have been overwhelmed by the ratings for the first episodes of Broadchurch. Nobody expected it to be the hit that it is, but it said a lot about the current state of British television, “It’s in such an exciting state: a brilliant time. There’s nowhere more exciting to make TV than Britain.”

Broadchurch has much to offer in future episodes They will burrow down deeper into the community and deal with concerns above and beyond the whodunit element. There will be many more revelations, cliffhangers and great acting from the incredible cast.

Listen to the full interview below. Chris Chibnall discusses scenes between Detectives Hardy and Miller (David Tennant and Olivia Colman) from 13 minutes, and talks more about David Tennant from 15 minutes 30 seconds



Broadchurch continues on ITV at 9pm on Monday 25th March

Find out more about the series here

Visit The Custard TV here

ITV's new crime drama Broadchurch has stirred up so much public interest that even betting agents Ladbrookes are offering odds on the killer's identity. The first two episodes of the eight part series starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman were watched by over nine million people each and trying to guess the killer seems to be the game of the moment.

At present the favourite seems to be Mark Latimer (Andrew Buchan), the father of victim Danny with odds of 4/1. The bookmakers have local vicar Paul Coates (Arthur Darvill) at 5/1 and creepy loner Susan Wright (Pauline Quirke) at 6/1. Amazingly, troubled detective Alec Hardy (David Tennant) has longer odds at 50/1 than his colleague, the kind-hearted Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) at 20/1.

Check out the Ladbrookes site to see how your suspect measures up

Having a flutter on the Broadchurch killer isn't as odd as it seems. During filming the cast and crew were only told the murderer's name in the last hours before the final scenes were shot, so ran their own sweepstake on set.

Broadchurch continues at 9pm on Monday 25th March on ITV

Find out more about the series here

Mar
21
Broadchurch's Jodie Whittaker Talks To The Yorkshire Post


Broadchurch actress Jodie Whiitaker has been talking to the Yorkshire Post about her role in the drama.
Jodie who plays grieving mother Beth Latimer has been moving audiences with her emotional performance and admits she found the subject matter hard going:

“It was – to say the least – a harrowing shoot to do, not least because we all read, at least once a year, of something like that happening in real life, and I really cannot imagine what hell parents must go through when it does. The news can be so very bleak, some days.”
She adds: “I admit that I was very deeply and profoundly affected by Broadchurch. Chris Chibnall’s research was phenomenal, and we all had to read some very uncomfortable things, but, at the end of every day, however committed I was to it, I went back to a very nice and warm hotel bedroom, and I could talk about other things. When it happens for real, it must be a living nightmare, and it is with you 24/7 – forever.
I could certainly relate to the idea of this small community – because that is the sort of place that I come from. Everyone knows everyone else. But, think about it, when something like this child’s death occurs, everyone becomes a suspect. Who do you trust, who do you believe?"

Like the rest of the cast Jodie is sworn to secrecy over the identity of the killer of 11 year old Danny:

“It was a very rewarding experience for all of us in the cast that Chris and the production people didn’t tell any of us the outcome of the action until we were many weeks into filming. Even now, I am sworn to secrecy about the plot, and how it unravels. I haven’t even discussed it with my husband, or 
my closest friends and family.”

You can read the full interview with Jodie on the Yorkshire Post website here.

STV have posted a brief overview on what to expect in episode four of the thrilling crime drama series Broadchurch starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman. The series, created by Doctor Who and Torchwood writer Chris Chibnall, follows the impact of the murder on a child on a small community

Read more below (contains spoilers)

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Friends and neighbours come under scrutiny in hit crime drama Broadchurch

At the halfway point, hit drama Broadchurch looks to take on a more sinister side as the hunt for a gruesome child murderer gathers pace.

David Tennant’s DI Alec Hardy is in the thick of things, matching his wits against the mind of a murderer while balancing the working politics of police business with local DS Ellie Miller (Peep Show’s Olivia Colman)

In the fourth episode of the series, the aftershocks of 11-year-old Danny's murder continue to ripple through the town, as friends and neighbours’ lives come under closer, revealing scrutiny.

The aftershocks of Danny's murder continue to ripple through the town, as friends and neighbours’ lives come under scrutiny. Meanwhile distraught parents Beth (Jodie Whittaker) and Mark(Andrew Buchan) decide to take matters into their own hands to get news of Danny's murder into the newspapers in an attempt to out their son's killer

Broadchurch continues on ITV at 9pm on Monday 25th March
Click here to find out more about the series
Source: STV