📺 Watched Broadchurch (2013) Season 1 Episodes 1-8

Watched Broadchurch (Season 1) from ITV/BBC America

A seemingly calm and friendly seaside town becomes a town wrapped in secrets when the death of an eleven year old boy sparks an unwanted media frenzy. As the town's locals start to open up about what they do and don't know, it falls upon the police to catch the supposed killer. Creator: Chris Chibnall Starring: David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Andrew Buchan

I’m not sure exactly how I came across this, but I’ve just binged watched the first season (2013) of this great series. The second season from 2015 is also on Netflix already, and I’m thrilled to see that there’s already a season three from 2017 which hopefully will be available soon too.

In the same vein as the series Shetland, which I loved, this is a brooding small town, sea-side police drama. I suspect that many who appreciated Shetland as much as I did will love this. Those who haven’t seen either are recommended to do so if they’re drama/crime/mystery fans.

While generally good, the cinematography here wasn’t as solid as it was in Shetland, but it certainly goes a long way toward creating the real character of the series. This particular season was much more like the last season of Shetland in that it’s an extended episode focusing on one case while many of the early episodes of Shetland were one or two-parters rather than an eight episode arc. The other big differentiator was that Shetland has a stronger focus on character amidst the case while this one is a tad weaker.

The casting was very solid and varied. Fans of the Harry Potter films will recognize several members of the cast passing through including lead David Tennant, who is probably best known by sci-fi fans from his decade long turn in Dr. Who. The acting was generally good, though there were a few missteps that could have been better. One small flaw revealed the ending to me in one of the middle episodes. It seemed a bit off to me that Tennant’s hair was an affected brassy color rather than a more darker natural color–it was definitely a choice.

The plot was pretty solid overall despite one or two pieces which were a bit too convenient (and far too coincidental), particularly in retrospective. The Jack Marshall story line outcome was painfully under-motivated and didn’t play as realistic to me, but the rest was well done including the gut punch ending in the final episode of season one. Given the complexity and nuance of as many characters interacting in such a small town, the overall arc is incredibly well done.

I can’t wait to power through the next season, and hope the third is available soon. Knowing the casting stays much the same, I’m really curious how the next two seasons are plotted.

I watched this on the 40″ Samsung in high def with Netflix routed through my Google Chromecast.