TV crime at its best
“The best liars always stick close to the truth.”
Broadchurch is a British crime drama tv series, which aired on ITV between 2013 and 2017. It ran for three seasons with a total of 24 episodes, all written by series creator Chris Chibnall. It is set in the fictional British town Broadchurch in Dorset and revolves around the detectives DI Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and DS Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman).
Season one focuses on the murder of 11-year-old Danny Latimer. Besides the two detectives, Danny’s family, his mother Beth (Jodie Whittaker), father Mark (Andrew Buchan) and sister Chloe (Charlotte Beaumont) act as key characters in the first season, but stay present in all three of them. Season 2 shows the trial of Danny’s killer. Parallel to that, an old case that has always haunted DI Hardy, “returns” to him and DS Miller helps him solve it with a fresh pair of eyes. Season 3 centres on the sexual assault of a local woman.
I stumbled upon Broadchurch accidentally on Netflix and to be honest I didn’t even expect much, as I had never heard of it before. And then it hit me and I couldn’t stop watching. This review isn’t going to involve any spoilers, as I want you all to read this and then watch the show ASAP! 😉
So, tell us Sarah, there’s thousands of crime dramas out there, what makes this one so special? Well, I’ll tell you.
Broadchurch is set in a small-town, a close-knit local community. It doesn’t only show that a child has been murdered and that two detectives are trying to find the man or woman responsible for it. What this series does is, it goes that one step further and it shows the full impact of this murder on the family and the town. It shows how not only a family gets torn apart by grief and uncertainty, but also the whole community. It shows quite drastically, how much responsibility journalism and other media have on people’s lives and how easily they can destroy those. How prejudices paired with false accusations and fear can alter a person’s life forever. It just goes so much deeper than most other crime dramas and it does this without pointing fingers, without ever being insensitive. Broadchurch explores so many facades of a crime that leave you shocked and deep in thought, far beyond the murder in itself.
Besides the outstanding writing, acting and cinematography, what Broadchurch does exceptionally well, is character development. I’ve been watching a few series for over a decade and they’re all great too, but they still don’t come near the character development that Broadchurch manages within only 24 episodes. Each of the main characters experiences some kind of grief or trauma, of course I won’t say in which way. But trust me, they all do and still how they deal with it differs in so many ways and for each one of them it kinda makes sense and you can relate to almost every individual. I even felt pity for the killer once, although at the same time I hated him/her.
Another thing that this crime drama does similarly to others but still a whole lot better, is the fact that you really can’t guess who did it, but you’re constantly trying to. In fact I did suspect the actual killer at one point, but didn’t quite follow my suspicion as you get thrust from A to B to Z in the list of potential murderers in under a minute. As with the sexual assault in season 3 I really had no idea at all.
Fun fact: Creator and writer Chris Chibnall thought it might influence the acting, if the actors knew who would be the killer. So they were all not only sworn to secrecy, they also weren’t allowed to know the killer’s identity until filming the final episode of season one. At the start of production only Chibnall and four other people knew who the killer was.
All in all, Broadchurch is not a series that will make you feel warm and fuzzy and happy inside. It rather shows the world as it is at (most) times: unfair, cruel, selfish and unpredictable. It is pitiless and at the same time you don’t get out of it without feeling hopeful and, in a strange way, happy.
All photos used in this article are copyrighted by Kudos Film and Television, Shine Group and Imaginary Friends.
sarahtalksfilm 