Broadchurch. Series Two, Episode Five. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Andrew Buchan, Jodie Whittaker, Charlotte Rampling, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Pauline Quirke, Arthur Darvill, Eve Myles, James D’Arcy, Meera Syal, Carolyn Pickles, Tanya Franks, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, William Andrews, Matthew Gravelle, Shaun Dooley, Joe Sims, Adam Wilson, Simone McAullay.

 

As is often pointed out in the national press via informed publications that deals with criminal statistics, offences can often be linked together, the perpetrator of one such misdeed is often responsible for others. Why should the town of Broadchurch, tearing itself apart at the seams with claim and counterclaim, be any different?

Two investigations, two sets of players merging into one and instead of one child being killed, the possibility of three being murdered within a certain time frame is looking more and more likely and for retired Detective Alec Hardy, the strain on his body is becoming too much to bear.

The courtroom saga drags on as these things are ought to do but the squabbles of the town are now seeping into the private lives of those seeking justice and freedom and in return the upturned lives of all concerned seem to be sinking further into the waste and boggy ground that unresolved murder brings.

The possible merging of the two investigations is complex enough, the element of doubt on the conviction of Joe Miller is hindered by the lies and fabrications of the distorted truth being played by the two families in Hardy’s initial investigation and the small time bomb that is waiting to happen as Joe Miller asks to stand in court to speak for his father.

It is seemingly small innocent additions in Chris Chibnall’s script that is keeping Broadchurch as viable and interesting as it is and in Pauline Quirke’s masterful display of disregard for the authority of law whilst on the witness stand, her flagrant disdain for the etiquette demanded of her that set this particular episode alight.

Like a slow moving match across a thin strip of combustible edging, the sparks are becoming visible, the red tip of the match slowly fizzing will soon be revealed in full glory, it’s what it alights next in Broadchurch that is the next burning question.

Broadchurch continues next Monday.

Ian D. Hall