Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Coleman, Andrew Buchan, Jodie Whittaker, Tracy Childs, Will Mellor, Arthur Darvill, David Bradley, Jonathon Bailey, Vicky McClure, Charlotte Beaumont, Joe Simms, Carolyn Pickles, Pauline Quirke.
I.T.V. may have lost D.I. Lewis but in the great tradition that the station has in unearthing the next generation of police who have the unenviable task of solving murders, all they have to do is move the drama to the next port of call and instantly those television that enjoy playing amateur detective get a brand new man or woman to cheer on and fall for. Following on from Morse, Frost and Lewis, viewers now have the recognisable face and familiar Scottish drawl of David Tennant as Detective Inspector Alec Hardy in the programme Broadchurch.
The murder/mystery revolves around the discovery of a child’s body along on the beach in the fictional town of Broadchurch. It is not a job that any police officer in their right mind ever relishes but it falls to D.I. Hardy and the person he effectively took the job from, Detective Miller, played by a very fine Olivia Coleman who has been slowly building her great reputation as a woman of absolute substance when it comes to character work.
In the tradition of all the best detective series, the man leading the hunt for killer is a man with a past and in David Tennant, writer Chris Chibnall has found a man who can bring anguished deep thought and brooding darkness to a new level. He has proved it so many times that whilst you should never take an actor’s ability to portray any type of character, it is inconceivable and impossible to miscast the man in anything that requires a certain degree of gravitas.
The woman who has put her faith in D.I. Hardy, the trusting but indomitable Superintendent Jenkinson, sees a welcome return to television to Tracy Childs. The one time favourite of the B.B.C. programme Howard’s Way, has been very much conspicuous by her absence over the years and it has been a crying shame. The entire show seems to have this quality running through it and in the best traditions of big budget versions of Agatha Christie films, there is a member of the cast who you can’t help but smile and be glad to see them on the screen.
Trust is all in the quaint town of Broadchurch where everyone seems to know everyone else and their business but can people ever really know what goes on in the minds and hearts of all? It looks as the outsider is the one that has nothing to lose as he already trusts no one.
A fantastic start to what looks to be a gripping series in the making.
Ian D. Hall