This show is definitely maintaining its very high level of quality. The actress playing Trish is just fantastic. It wasn’t until this episode, when we saw her in the flashback at the party, all happy and full of life, that it’s been really clear how totally convincing her portrayal has been.
Olivia Coleman and David Tenant continue to be excellent. I love their teasing interplay.
No point in trying to predict who the attacker is at this point, other than the normal “well, it’s probably NOT any of the obvious suspects”.
One question: what’s the deal with DI Hardy’s daughter? Why is Chloe befriending her? Did we learn something about her past last season that I’m now forgetting? The main thing I remember from season 2 is the Joe Miller trial, pretty much blanked on everything else that happened. Thanks!
I was wondering about DI Hardy’s daughter as well. Aside from being the new kid, I thought Chloe said she heard about what happened. There were those boys who stopped by and told DI Hardy to tell her the boys stopped by or something, and with sexual assault being the theme this season and those other boys caught with porn, I suspected it may have something to do with her being victimized in some way.
Its already been broadcast here [Australia] and it meets the high standards set by the first two seasons.
Part of its skill is making you doubt even the most benign interactions between characters, even little walk-ons can set you on edge.
Also, just as Hugo Weaving says he now only does trilogies, Broadchurch won’t get out of bed without at least one current, one former and a heavily backed candidate Dr Who on board.
I didn’t rate the second series (too many legal implausibilities which undermined its credibility), but this one really hit top form. There’s one scene with Julie Hesmondhalgh and Sarah Parish (Trish and Cath) where just a line or two of dialogue and a final tiniest of movements tell you so much about their relationship over the years.
Okay, finished watching the series. I thought it was very good (though I think they spent too much time on Danny’s parents and their problems), and I’m pleased to admit that I picked the rapist (Leo) in like the third episode, though I did waver a bit throughout the middle of the series.
I had a couple of problems, though, which maybe somebody can explain. Maybe I didn’t pay enough attention and missed something.
What ended up happening with the creepy sex offender? It seemed like they just dropped him and never resolved his story.
I was disappointed that Cath’s husband barely appeared in the last episode, especially after he’d been such a strong suspect. He at least deserved an apology or some kind of closure.
Big one: How the hell did that kid rape Trish? He was drunk, extremely agitated, and unwilling to do it. How did he physically manage to do the deed? I could see if he did it with a foreign object (which he didn’t), but even for a perpetually horny teenage boy, that seemed to stretch credibility for me. Am I underestimating how easy it is for upset, scared, agitated boys to maintain erections long enough to rape someone?
Even so, I did enjoy it a lot. Kind of bummed there won’t be more, but how many horrible crimes can one small town in England support?
I didn’t read the thread yet, as I’ve only seen episode 1. I just dropped in to say that I want David Tennant to shave his neck, for Pete’s sake. He looks like an almost-werewolf (and I do love *neat *beards).
I liked it. I liked the pace, the list of genuinely possible suspects who seemed likely up until the very last minute, the unfolding of secrets held by each of the families, the fact that most of the characters had a major name-calling, cursing outburst at one time or another. I especially liked the chewing out Ellie did of Ed’s daughter when she found out the girl was Ed’s daughter. Very satisfying. Even Alec said, “From now on, you should do all the bollocking.” I liked that there were a lot of characters, but they were different enough that I had no trouble telling them and their stories apart. That isn’t always the case in these village sagas.
Did Alec smile once during the entire 8 episodes? I don’t think so.
I definitely enjoyed it overall, largely due to the fantastic acting… although I thought the resolution here came a little bit out of left field. I don’t feel that, were I to rewatch the season, I would then see all the subtle but definite clues that had been inserted into the script making it very clear who the actual rapist(s) were… and the whole “grooming” thing, while creepy as heck, came pretty much out of left field.
Still, excellent and gripping television. The two leads are fantastic, of course, and the actress who played Trish was amazing as well.
I think it would have been a more interesting choice to have Mark Latimer’s suicide attempt be successful. That dramatic sequence where he consigned himself to the sea, mesmerized by visions of his dead child, certainly made me think that he was a goner. (And, purely from my viewpoint as a consumer of television, it’s not uncommon for shows that are on the verge of finishing up their runs to go ahead and off people, since it’s not like there’s an enormous penalty for not having them around.) But maybe they didn’t want us to take our eyes off the central crime of the season.
My wife and I enjoyed all three seasons. For this one, it was pretty easy to exclude the suspects, but that’s okay. I just think back to shows like Columbo, where you knew whodunnit from the very beginning, and the plot was how the bad guy was going to be caught. So I let that part go, and just followed along.
While part of me agrees (dramatically), during that whole sequence all I could think was that the jerk didn’t deserve to die and put Beth and Chloe through such loss again. So I was kind of relieved when he didn’t drown.