# Broadchurch (TV Series)



## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Just wondering if anyone has been watching this? I started hearing good buzz about it a while before it aired and, being a Doctor Who fan, loved David Tennant. It has rapidly become one of my favorite shows on TV. It is running here in the U.S. on BBC America and it is opposite my other favorite show - another crime show - The Bridge. 

I find myself completely lost and captivated by this story. It moves along slowly and surely, and things are revealed carefully and without being obvious to the viewer - you have to pay attention and I love that.

Just wondering if anyone else is watching - please no spoilers, especially if you live in the UK and already saw the series!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

It's very good. . . . though I was disappointed -- after some confusion -- that a new episode wasn't aired last night when I was expecting it to have been.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

It was on BBC America this past Wednesday night. I watched the DVR'd copy I had last night. It was the best episode yet. The show has really kept me guessing. I tend to try to be a smart-a** and figure out these crime shows before the big revelation - so far I still don't know who the killer is.


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## LDB (Oct 28, 2008)

We enjoy it and are looking forward to Foyle's War resuming Sunday as well. You have to watch the BBC shows a little more closely to keep up with everything. They do good work.


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## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

We've been watching Broadchurch as well, however, I didn't know when it first started here that the plot would carry over to the next episodes.  It's really good, but I keep wondering "are we ever going to find out who killed that kid?".


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

It'll end.  It's basically a miniseries.  And then it will be finished.


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## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

Really?  I thought it was a regular weekly tv show. Bummer!  I like it!


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## Cuechick (Oct 28, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> It's very good. . . . though I was disappointed -- after some confusion -- that a new episode wasn't aired last night when I was expecting it to have been.


My DVR did not record it either, though its set to record all of them and has up to that episode. I checked the whole weeks schedule and did not see a repeat so I went ahead and dropped 1.99 to stream it from Amazon.

Love the show! Though I thought the


Spoiler



chase scene in the last episode was terrible. Really, you would stop to answer your phone!?! Ugh!


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

I've been watching and liking it a lot too.  We did get a new episode this week.  Been recording on dvr since I work nights and get home at 3am.  I'm also liking Law & Order UK a lot more lately and it comes on just before Broadchurch.

Looking forward to new Foyle's War series Sunday night.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Cuechick said:


> My DVR did not record it either, though its set to record all of them and has up to that episode.


Mine didn't pick it up,either. I had to grab it from the BBCA Video On Demand channel on DirecTV.

Mike


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## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

balaspa said:


> Just wondering if anyone has been watching this? I started hearing good buzz about it a while before it aired and, being a Doctor Who fan, loved David Tennant. It has rapidly become one of my favorite shows on TV. It is running here in the U.S. on BBC America and it is opposite my other favorite show - another crime show - The Bridge.
> 
> I find myself completely lost and captivated by this story. It moves along slowly and surely, and things are revealed carefully and without being obvious to the viewer - you have to pay attention and I love that.
> 
> Just wondering if anyone else is watching - please no spoilers, especially if you live in the UK and already saw the series!


I started watching it and found it excellent. However I do not much patience with series that take so many weeks to catch the murderer so I just watched the first couple of shows and the last couple of shows. The ending did not disappoint. JB


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I LOVE a story that takes its time. If it were up to me, it would spread the murder out over several seasons. I love a mystery that takes its time, reveals things a bit at a time, and then hits you with the surprise at the end.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

balaspa said:


> I LOVE a story that takes its time. If it were up to me, it would spread the murder out over several seasons. I love a mystery that takes its time, reveals things a bit at a time, and then hits you with the surprise at the end.


See, and I'd totally lose interest in that.

Reading about the mini-series ahead of time it sounds like it was designed so each episode sort of focuses on one person -- but with hints and clues about the others. And, apparently, the actors didn't even know who was the killer until they got nearer the end. So in the earlier episodes, especially, the actors really don't know if their character did it or not!

Ann


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## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

balaspa said:


> I LOVE a story that takes its time. If it were up to me, it would spread the murder out over several seasons. I love a mystery that takes its time, reveals things a bit at a time, and then hits you with the surprise at the end.


Yeah, but only if all that occurs in one sitting. I even get impatient when they split a show into part 1 and part 2 such as they did (here in Australia anyway) with_ Silent Witness _and _Waking The Dead_. I usually don't watch part 1.


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

I was disappointed to find out at the end of the 1st episode of Broadchurch that the same story was ongoing.  I've enjoyed watching all of it, however.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Well I still don't know why it didn't record last week. . . . . BUT it's re-airing tomorrow morning at 5 a.m.  So I've set to record episode 6 then.


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## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

Thanks, Ann.  My DVR didn't record last Wednesday night either, but I checked it for tomorrow (Wed.) morning, and it was set up to record episode 6.  Go figure.

Thanks for the heads up!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Can someone who's already seen it all the way through -- like say in the UK -- tell me how many total episodes there are?  I want to set my recorder so that it doesn't accidentally drop the oldest one since it seems like the sort of thing I might want to watch over from the beginning.  Right now I have it set to save at least 10 episodes, but I can increase that if I need to.


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

In the UK, _Broadchurch_ was 8 45-minute episodes. Chris Chibnall, the writer, was head writer on _Torchwood_ in seasons 1 and 2 BTW.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

8!  Good. . . . . then the one that recorded last night is number 7 and next week is the last one.  Thanks!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

O.K. last night's episode was very good. . . . . . I'm thinking next Wednesday I'll have to re-watch the first 7 before the final episode airs that night.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Last night's was VERY good. I am on the edge of my seat the entire time and I still am trying to figure out whodunnit! What a great show.


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

I think I'm the only person in the UK who hasn't seen any Broadchurch yet! Will have to catch up the next time it's repeated on tv.


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## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

I'm pretty sure I know who done it, but will be interested to see how it all plays out.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Ah, no spoilers! I want to find out on my own.

I hear they are remaking it for US TV. However, I just don't know if American audiences can handle the rather slow pace. I love it, but you look at something like The Following - and there had to be a chase, a gun fight, a fistfight and something huge and action-packed in each episode.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

balaspa said:


> Ah, no spoilers! I want to find out on my own.
> 
> I hear they are remaking it for US TV. However, I just don't know if American audiences can handle the rather slow pace. I love it, but you look at something like The Following - and there had to be a chase, a gun fight, a fistfight and something huge and action-packed in each episode.


Well, certain segments of the 'American audience' are enjoying it very much -- it's one of the most watched on BBC America. . . . at least until the Torchwood series starts up again and, of course Doctor Who.

But there's no reason in the world to make an American version.  (Though, I must admit, sometimes I have to turn on the closed captions to figure out what David Tennant is saying.  When I watch the whole thing through next week in one marathon session, I'll probably have the accent in my ear by the end of the day.  )


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I also like how this show had added a new dimension to David Tennant for me. I loved him as the Doctor, of course, but this character is wonderfully different and still compelling.


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## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

Ann in Arlington said:


> When I watch the whole thing through next week in one marathon session....


I think that's an excellent way to view these types of shows - (I don't yet have the technology to do it so I stick to my 'watch a few, skip a few, watch the ending' strategy).


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## Cuechick (Oct 28, 2008)

Ok, my friend and I came up with a theory, not looking for confirmation from the Brits on here who have already seen it! Just want to lay it out there...



Spoiler



Playing off the scene where the female police officer asked the woman whose husband had molested the kids _twice_ how "she could not know what was going on under her own roof" ...I think this will come back to haunt her. Not only is her son involved; but I think her husband is. He not only looks like the woman's son who she fingered, but he works with the kid skate boarders and I think uses his son to get his victims. I think Danny resisted and he killed him, possibly unintentionally. Another clue, the call she got when they were chasing that guy. It could have been him calling her to distract her! Which he did.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I've had those very same thoughts!

And yet -- there's been no other indication for the first 6 episodes.  Or has there?  I have to re-watch everything.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I'll admit to thinking the finale was a bit of an anti-climax. All that buildup and


Spoiler



the killer pretty much walks up and confesses.



I was a bit disappointed. Some of that may be my preference for mysteries


Spoiler



where the crime is actually solved by the investigators, I guess. Yes, I know Tennant's character was hot on the trail, but still...



Mike


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

<resisting hovering on the spoiler blocks>

I recorded it and need to go watch it!


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## Cuechick (Oct 28, 2008)

jmiked said:


> I'll admit to thinking the finale was a bit of an anti-climax. All that buildup and
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...


Well I must be a detective, cause I nailed it!


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I loved the ending. It was like a punch in the gut - and it seemed to me that Tennant's character knew who the killer was and that was why the killer knew that he/she could not hide any longer.

I was near tears at the end. A great show. I hear that there might be a season 2, but I cannot fathom how.

However, here is an article about the second season: http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/24/broadchurch-series-2-will-be-completely-different-says-itv-chief-3936628/


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Well, I watched the last episode without re-watching the first few.  I need to do that.  I still feel like the hints that he did it didn't come out until way late in the timeline.  But, yeah, Ellie's comments in the penultimate episode were a BIG hint.

I'm not sure how I feel about a second series.  It would be too weird for there to be another murder in that small town. But if it wasn't there, how could you call it "Broadchurch." 

I do think the acting was great. . . .


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## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

We just finished watching the last episode. We had figured it was


Spoiler



"one of the bald headed guys"


 a couple of episodes back.

Thanks, Ann, well after the fact, for reminding me that we could have turned on closed captioning.  There were lots of things we couldn't understand, and that would have made it way better. Of course, the only other time we have had CC on was when Hank fell asleep with the remote in his hand  and turned it on and it took days for me to figure out what he did and then how to turn it off...

I don't think we would watch another season.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Here's an article I found interesting about how they filmed it and when the actors and crew learned 'who dun it'.

DO NOT READ IT if you haven't watched the final episode. Spoilers! 

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/25/broadchurch-killer-finale/


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

And now, the American version is going to have David Tennant in it - playing essentially the same role. This article seems to suggest he will be portraying an American - so it will be interesting to hear him do an American accent.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/David-Tennant-Broadchurch-1071529.aspx


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I'm just puzzled that anyone would want to do an "American version." A lot of the appeal of the series to me was that it _wasn't_ in America. With an American location and American accents, it would be just another cop show. There are already far too many of those around in my opinion. 

Mike


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

To me, _Broadchurch_ was like a well done British Mystery novel. Say, the first in a series that was well received. So I can totally get behind a second series. . . maybe with a completely different title and the subtitle, 'an Alec Hardy/Ellie Miller case'. I mean, they can NOT have another weird murder in the town of Broadchurch! And at the end there was every indication that both of them would be moving on. Hardy was being invalided out and Ellie was moving away from the memories given who it turned out the killer was. But I can see her landing a DS job, even a DI job, in some other small town, and there being a similar weird murder, and her calling Hardy to help her out with his insights.

You could certainly do a similar show set someplace in the US. I don't personally see the need, but I supposed there are probably a lot of people who don't get BBC America, so won't have seen it. Or who would be more comfortable with American accents in terms of being able to understand what they're saying. I must confess I usually have no problem, but Tenant did get a bit thick with the Scots now and then and I had to turn on the CC to understand him, even if I did like listening to the burr.


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

I'm not sure that I would watch an American version, but I'd dvr the first episode.

I don't see any reason not to have another murder set in Broadchurch.  There are a lot of British murder mysteries set in small towns that would be unlikely to have so many murders, but the programs are worth watching and, in fact, very good.


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## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

jmiked said:


> I'm just puzzled that anyone would want to do an "American version."
> Mike


*Same here.*


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

You're puzzled? American TV networks ALWAYS think they have to "remake" British shows. Most of the time they are a disaster. Of course, right now, I cannot think of a single one that actually worked (Sandford & Son, maybe).


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

balaspa said:


> You're puzzled? American TV networks ALWAYS think they have to "remake" British shows. Most of the time they are a disaster. Of course, right now, I cannot think of a single one that actually worked (Sandford & Son, maybe).


By all accounts, The Office was quite successful. I never got it myself, or found it very funny, but a lot of people did.

Sent from my KFJWA using Tapatalk HD


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Looks like the series will be fleshed out into a book:

http://www.thecrimevault.com/exclusives/broadchurch-the-novel/

Due out sometime next year.


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## Duane Gundrum (Apr 5, 2011)

I personally enjoyed the series. What made it worthwhile to me was that it was actually British. If they transplanted it to the US, I probably wouldn't watch it.

What was really cool was seeing BBC actors showing up in all sorts of different places and then recognizing them (or spending half an hour thinking, why do I know that actor?).

It was quirky, different and well worth the watch. If they did a series two, then I'd hope it would be somewhere else. Same main actors (or even same actors all around but with completely different parts, a lot like American Horror Story seems to do).


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I am curious to see how they try to translate it to American TV. I mean, The Bridge worked.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

And, I am very, very glad to hear that David Tenant is coming over to the American version


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