Review of Broadchurch – Series 1, episode 3 

For today\'s leading articles, commentators and columnists, click here

Last updated: Monday, 18 March 2013 at 11:55 pm

SPOILERS: Do not read this if you have not see series 1, episode 3 of ‘Broadchurch’

It’s been a week since Danny died and the police came close to finding a suspect in episode three, but not close enough.

If you’re annoyed you don’t know whodunit, spare a thought for the actors. Writer Chris Chibnall didn’t tell any of the cast who the killer was when he gave them their scripts. David Tennant apparently kept accosting Chibnall on set saying: “I’m annoyed you won’t tell me and I think you’re absolutely right not to!”

At least there was one thing David Tennant’s character DI Alec Hardy didn’t want to find out this episode- and that was his fragile mental state could lead to death. In a peculiar meet up with the town psychiatrist (who looked more like a local fisherman) in a black beach shack, Hardy was told he would push himself to breaking point if he continues exerting pressure on himself professionally.

But Hardy seemed just fine heaping pressure on other people, with yet more jibes directed at DS Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) for not being tough enough. It was at this point you wondered whether Hardy did have a point. She seemed wrecked and drawn just from addressing her colleagues about the developments of Danny’s murder. If she was so emotionally attached to the family, why didn’t she withdraw from the case?

She was also outraged that the suspect could be Mark Latimer, Danny’s dad, and angered that Harding was pursuing his line of course because it could “destroy the community” if Mark was the killer. The killer (as in most child murder cases) is most likely to be someone in the family, and you don’t need a psychic to tell you that.

At least she tried to put on a hard front, telling Mark’s mate Nigel to “stop pissing about” because she’d heard from his Mum (cosy, is Broadchurch) he wasn’t where he said he was the night Danny was murdered. Then later she commendably told Hardy she would “piss in a cup and throw it at him” if he got her son to do a reconstruction of the events leading up to Danny’s death. Props to her.

Perhaps Danny was strangled by claustrophobia, so tightly knit is the town. When your 15-year-old daughter knows you’re having it off with the local hotelier, surely there’s got to be something up? Chloe is becoming a more suspicious character. Those thickly-rimmed eyelinered eyes are giving nothing away. But her name doesn’t have an S or R in it, as the BT phone-home psychic predicted to Beth.

It was hard not to sympathise with Beth in this episode. Jodie Whittaker’s portrayal of a mother grieving the loss of her son, distraught that the murderer could be anyone she sees in the street (including her husband) was wrenching. Although it might be nice to stop looking for the killer, as Danny supposedly tells her through Mr Medium, you know she can’t. But it’s hard to know what to make of her pregnancy- if she doesn’t tell Mark in the next episode I think we can assume it’s not his (assuming Mark doesn’t run off with his Ozzie floozy before she has time to).

As for Pauline Quirke, her character is still suspicious. Why was she lying to cover for Mark? More suspect still is her accent. Who from the east end caravans all the way down in Dorset? She’d more likely be found on the sinister Kentish marshes. And don’t forget she is also hiding Danny’s skateboard in her caravan.

Like the windmills planted on the beach in the closing shot, the plot keeps on turning.

Tagged in: Broadchurch, Chris Chibnall, David Tennant, doctor who, jodie whittaker, Olivia Colman

Friday Book Design Blog: Man Booker Prize Shortlist Special 2014

Indian art auction gets Delhi\'s depressed elite to splash out and buy

Friday Book Design Blog: Collector\'s Edition, by Stuart Tolley

Interview with Maybeshewill: “We’re not relying on guitars as much as we used too”

On Berlin\'s beat: An interview with Berlin Atonal organiser Laurens Von Oswald

This is exceptional TV, with a brilliant cast and a seasoned writer. How come ITV got this? What is also great is you don’t have to have it spoilt by ads if you watch it on demand. Long may that last. Watch it scoop awards.

1Are the Scots really sucking up a massive subsidy?

2How Scotland could be better off without its big banks

3Friday Book Design Blog: Man Booker Prize Shortlist Special 2014

4Wheels: Journeys through paralympic sport – International Paralympics Day 2014

1How Scotland could be better off without its big banks

2Friday Book Design Blog: Man Booker Prize Shortlist Special 2014

Gareth Pugh Saffronart Delhi elite seed pods Piet Oudolf eurostar fair youth dillinger escape plan subsidy eurotunnel sweetcorn radish Altuzarra paths Japanese salad leaves Scampston Walled Garden french beans superball music Indian art auction murderball wheelchair tennis Spring Summer 2015 WTO Pet Passport maybeshewill

©independent.co.uk Legal Terms & Policies | E-mail sign-up | RSS | Contact us | Syndication | Advertising Guide | iJobs | Subscriptions