There's a certain kind of drama that ITV lead the field in, a specialism of earnest, British character actors emoting in picturesque locations amid assorted scandals of sex, death and any other emotional minefield you can think of. Now in case you think I'm being disparaging, I'm really not. I've always enjoyed these dramas in all their slightly absurd glory, whether they're tackling weird mother/daughter relationships, cyber-crime or David Tennant as an evil husband (yes, that was an odd one). Broadchurch is very much in the same vein, right down to the beautiful seaside town, suspicious locals and Tennant himself.
Broadchurch follows the events after the death of an eleven year old boy, Danny Latimer, and its effects and a small community of people. His parents, played by Andrew Buchan and Jodie Whittaker, are naturally devastated by his sudden death and handle much of the episode's emotional lifting, Buchan's speech to his dead son particularly affecting. Investigating the suspicious death are DS Ellie Miller (the ever-wonderful Olivia Colman) and DI Alec Hardy (the afore-mentioned David Tennant), a man with his own mysterious past. Amongst the locals who may know something about Danny's death are Arthur Darvill's Reverend Paul Coates, Pauline Quirke's Susan Wright and David Bradley as Jack Marshall.
The first episode was naturally one of establishing everything about Broadchurch, a seaside town in Dorset; it's very much an everyone-knows-everyone town, as made clear by Mark Latimer's walkthrough of the town in the early morning, catching snippets of conversations with people who will no doubt be suspects in a couple of episodes' time. There are also several tensions already coming in to play, between the local press and the police, Hardy's own past that he appears to be running away from and the sudden onset of shifty glances and deleting of unseen files. So far, so standard ITV drama and if it continues down this path, we could be in for something a little cliched and ever-so-slightly predictable.
Storyline aside, Broadchurch's real strength is the impressive cast list that has been assembled. From ITV stalwarts like Buchan and Whittaker to the star power of Colman and Tennant, it may be going through the motions, but those motions are so well-acted that you'll soon forget to care. The extensive cast also means I am quite happy to continue watching to see the others stretch their legs.
In particular, Arthur Darvill's reverend has clearly got something to hide and it's a good chance for him to prove that his time as Rory wasn't just an excellent flash in the pan (you all know my feelings for Rory). Likewise, it's the first time I've seen Pauline Quirke in anything for absolutely ages, and that was probably an old re-run of Birds of a Feather. She's doing a fine line in sinister lurking here and I'm already dying to know why.
With this ensemble, many of whom I haven't mentioned yet, I'm hoping for a rich tapestry of characters, all of whom probably have a skeleton just waiting to come crashing out of the closet. I've already got my main suspects ready to go, but, this being an ITV drama after all, I'm fully expecting a few twists and turns before we find out who really is behind Danny's death.
Tune in next week to find out what Jen thinks of Broadchurch's second episode.
- Becky
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