Catching up with the hit ITV drama and bracing
myself for the remake
I finally caught up with this acclaimed British
show (winner of 3 BAFTAs) and let me tell you… It was hell to avoid spoilers! I
literally had to “shh” my screenwriter teacher at one point. You can understand
my apprehension. After all, what’s a whodunit if you know who the killer is?
So I promise, this post is completely SPOILER
FREE.
The Setting
Broadchurch revolves around the murder of a
young kid in a small seacoast town. A damaged detective (David Tennant) comes to
town to investigate the murder and seek redemption for his past failings. The murder
in a small town with the flawed detective is a great dramatic setting that just
doesn’t get old.
We’ve had many shows with this premise before: “Who
killed Rosie Larsen?” “Who killed Lily Kane?” And the biggest of them all: “Who
killed Laura Palmer?”
However, it’s hard to compare the tone of Broadchurch to other shows. It is not
quite Twin Peaks [but then again
NOTHING is Twin Peaks]. I’d say Broadchurch
is more in the vein of shows like The
Killing and Top of the Lake; but
it has its own unique style and feel.
And how about the mystery? Many said all the
clues to figure it out were planted since the first episode. I’d probably make
a terrible detective because I DID NOT see it coming at all! So, for me… it was
a successful mystery-murder.
The Cast
The cast was brilliant. Some familiar faces for
international audiences include David Tennant (Doctor Who) and David Bradley (Game
of Thrones, The Stain). David Tennant was brilliant in the role of a
tortured police officer with a dubious past and David Bradley had one of the
best arcs of the entire show. I felt all the other characters were perfectly
cast too. I especially loved the leading lady, Olivia Colman who had a great
balance of warmth and determination.
As you might know by now, this show is getting
an American re-vamp this coming fall. The new producers obviously liked the
original so much; they couldn’t conceive it without David Tennant. So he is more
or less replaying his role [with an “American” accent]. The female lead will go
to Anna Gun from Breaking Bad and,
although I think she is a great actress and incredible for certain roles, I
don’t know about this one… I think it will be hard to fill Olivia’s shoes. But
I may change my mind.
Now for
the important question…
Should you watch it?
I made it a point to watch Broadchurch before Gracepoint premiered.
I still have very strong feelings against unnecessary remakes [if it ain’t
broke….]. Having said that… I’ll watch Gracepoint…
and who knows? Maybe I’ll even love it. However, I always think I owe it to the
creators of the original to watch it.
And yes, Broadchurch,
is absolutely worth watching. My only complaint about the show is that it
is VERY depressing. It’s not a happy show. I went to a comedy workshop a few
months ago, and the writer (English) made a comment about how she wouldn’t
consider Breaking Bad a true “drama”
because it has a lot of humour. Then she [half-jokingly] stated that “American
dramas are allowed to be funny in a way British dramas aren’t”. I don’t think
that applies to everything [Sherlock and
Utopia have lots of funny moments e.g.]; but I
have noticed that most British dramas tend to be very… well dramatic. And it
was definitely the case with Broadchurch.
There was virtually no comic relief [I can think of one scene in the first
episode that was sort of funny and that’s pretty much it]. I won’t say that
makes it a bad show… but I wouldn’t have minded some lightness here and there.
I wonder if the Americans will go down the same
road or will add some humour to it [it might make it a very different show with
unpredictable results]. We’ll just have to wait and see. The “Who did it
better?” post is absolutely coming later. In the meantime… go watch the
original.
Thank you for your non spoiler review and recap. I really loved Broadchurch. I agree it was pretty humorless and some of dry English humour wouls.have added to not slightly. One thing I really liked was that it was a limited amount of episodes. It told the story efficiently. Some series are too long and add too much inconsequential stuff as fillers. I has an inkling about who really killed Danny bit am. It even sure why. I will ,watxh Gracepoint as will be different killer, I read. I also love Oak Bat, Victoria,BC! Thanks and will look forward to your thoughts on Gracepoint
ReplyDelete