Broadchurch. A fictional seaside town where nothing is as it seems. In my opinion anyway.
After watching the first episode of ITV's new mystery drama last night, I have to admit I'm intrigued to watch this plot play out.
The boundless list of recognisable faces first drew me to this new drama; I couldn't resist not tuning in to Broadchurch simply because I was suffering withdrawal symptoms from my favourite Doctor, David Tennant. So you can imagine my disappointment when, 10 minutes into the hour-long episode, Tennant had still not graced my screen! Thankfully, he was just round the corner, after the scenic, dark, tension-building bit.
The opening to the drama made me doubt if this show would be worth watching, simply because it was so stereotypical. An unknown child stands on the edge of a cliff, with at least a 100ft drop to the beach below, and what looks suspiciously like blood dripping from his fingers. Who is this child? And what on earth has happened/he done?
We soon find out that this child is Danny, a local child and victim of a murder disguised as an accidental fall. His family are obviously devastated, but their anguish reveals some interesting queries; where was Danny's father on the night of his disappearance? I sure as hell don't believe the 'emergency plumbing job' excuse. Could it be an affair? Is home life as perfect as it seems?
The parents do seem pretty oblivious to the actions of their children; first their son sneaks out of the house in the middle of the night, then their daughter is seen to be dating someone who is obviously a lot older than her. In fact, his first worry when discovering police have visited the family over the death is "shit, they don't know about us do they? you're not 16 yet". And they're not the only parents too busy to take notice of what their kids are doing. DS Ellie Miller, leading the investigation alongside DI Alec Hardy (Tennant), is too busy to question Tom's shifty body language when asked about Danny's death. The audience is soon made aware of some suspicious texts and Facebook messages between Tom and Danny, yet the content is left hidden and then destroyed after Tom deletes them all. What have these two 11 year olds got to hide? This is probably the most intriguing question of all raised in the opening episode, and the primary reason why I'll be tuning in next week.
If this doesn't tempt you enough, tune in to see the bountiful cast: Vicky McClure (nearly unrecognisable without her bleach blonde crop-do from the This Is England days), Will Mellors, Pauline Quirke, and Arthur Darvill are to name but a few. Although none of these featured greatly in the first episode, there is 8 more to come and I predict they will become very important in the murder investigations! In the first episode, the producers of Broadchurch cleverly use subtle camera angles to make you focus of Quirk's character whenever other characters are discussing the murder, making you assume her guilt. I predict this focus will change onto a different character each week, after all, it wouldn't be a very good mystery if we knew the culprit from the first episode!
Throughout the filming process, even the cast were kept in the dark about the true culprit of the murder, instead receiving the scripts one at a time. This was an extremely effective method in conveying a sense of realism in the drama; when the characters are frustrated at not having the answers, it's much more believable and feels less scripted. I think that this first episode as a whole managed to escape the trap of being too scripted, which is always distracting. The way the family blame each other in some respects, although destructive and tragic, is probably true of situations like this. The raw emotion of the episode set it apart from the stereotypical mystery drama, and I anticipate that Broadchurch will be a gripping watch.
If you missed the first episode last night, you can catch up on it here.
Also, check out the trailer for episode 2!
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