Broadchurch / Gracepoint - that critically acclaimed British crime drama and its American superior r - Film, Television and Music

Stop everything you're doing now. You haven't seen Broadchurch yet? Well, now's the time to make up for it, because you're missing one of the best criminal drama of the decade. [b]Broadchurch[/b] is a British television crime drama released in 2013. First season had 8 episodes, next was announced recently. It follows the story of a horrible murder in small town on the Dorset coast, told from the perspective of two detectives - Alec Hardy (played by David Tennant) and Ellie Miller (played by Olivia Colman). It's a beautifully executed "who-dun-it" mystery; think about Twin Peaks but with less fucked up stuff, or The Killing with all plotlines neatly tied up. I don't really want to spoil you, so go ahead and watch it vague teaser. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f5DNUF2CFc[/media] Still not convinced? Well, how about this - it received three BAFTAs this year (equivalent of British Emmy/Oscars): [b]Best Drama Series[/b], [b]Best Leading Actress for Olivia Colman[/b] and [b]Best Supporting Actor for David Bradley[/b]. Really - it's beautifully shot, written and scored, go ahead, watch it. So, what's the deal with [b]Gracepoint[/b]? Short after Broadchurch's become a hit in the UK, Fox has bought rights to making a remake of the series. Starring David Tennant (again) and Anna Gunn. Is it really superior? Nah, I don't know, it's not even out yet, but I got your attention. Maybe it's good, but from the trailer it looks like shot-to-shot remake. I hope it's different enough from the original. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9IWvbbZPZc[/media] Generally, I'd recommend you first watch original and later eventually the remake, but hey, do what you want. Keep the spoilers in tags.

Yeah, I never enjoy much of ITV's stuff but Broadchurch was top notch. I doubt i'll watch the remake but I recommend the original, I guess wait for the remake if british accents make it seem less believable? Olivia Colman who played the police woman is a great actress too.

I guess Gracepoint might be a decent alternative if you cannot stand the British setting and accents, but I doubt it'll be able to match Broadchurch. Regardless of your preference, Broadchurch is a must-see if you like crime drama.

Southcliffe is also a very good British drama. Although rather slow, it has some excellent acting, especially Sean Harris. Broadchurch is very good as well.

First photo from Season 2 table reading [img]http://www-deadline-com.vimg.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Broadchurch-season-2__140522103817.jpg[/img]

bit of a bump but I just marathoned this show and it's fucking perfect. Fucking. Perfect. EDIT: something that confused me.. Where does the shady postman and the argument he had with Danny play into it all? It's obviously suspicious as he calls his friends to set up the alibi straight after Alec and Ellie leave him.. Maybe something for s2?

[QUOTE=ElectronicG19;45983077]bit of a bump but I just marathoned this show and it's fucking perfect. Fucking. Perfect. EDIT: something that confused me.. Where does the shady postman and the argument he had with Danny play into it all? It's obviously suspicious as he calls his friends to set up the alibi straight after Alec and Ellie leave him.. Maybe something for s2?[/QUOTE] Simple red herring (it was the first "suspect" we encounter in the film after all), but I wouldn't be surprised at all if writers will incorporate it into S2. Although I'm slightly afraid about the quality of S2, it's unusual to maintain the high level of writing in a crime drama, after whodunnit is revealed (with Twin Peaks being prime example). Unless they'll come up with another mistery crime.

[QUOTE=Joz;45985036]Simple red herring (it was the first "suspect" we encounter in the film after all), but I wouldn't be surprised at all if writers will incorporate it into S2. Although I'm slightly afraid about the quality of S2, it's unusual to maintain the high level of writing in a crime drama, after whodunnit is revealed (with Twin Peaks being prime example). Unless they'll come up with another mistery crime.[/QUOTE] Nah Broadchurch was never a whodunnit. It's more about the emotional impact that Danny's death had on the town, which can easily continue into a s2. And then there's some potential for courtroom drama.

[QUOTE=ElectronicG19;45985070]Nah Broadchurch was never a whodunnit. It's more about the emotional impact that Danny's death had on the town, which can easily continue into a s2. And then there's some potential for courtroom drama.[/QUOTE]S1 was both imo (whereas S2 will probably take out the whodunnit factor).

[QUOTE=ElectronicG19;45985070]Nah Broadchurch was never a whodunnit. It's more about the emotional impact that Danny's death had on the town, which can easily continue into a s2. And then there's some potential for courtroom drama.[/QUOTE]As we saw it at the end of S2 the town was slowly healing after what happened. The only way I see how it could impact on the town was eventual lynch on murderer's family but that seems really unlikely. With courtroom drama (which I adore, but it's extremely difficult to make) it would seem like a recreation of "To Kill a Mockingbird". I really think the writers will go even further with inspirations taken from Twin Peaks (minus the surrealism) - the accidental murder will unravel even more dirty secrets in the town, deep and elaborate criminal conspiracies with majority of the town involved.

[QUOTE=ElectronicG19;45985070]Nah Broadchurch was never a whodunnit.[/QUOTE] Yes it was. The papers were filled with theories every day. They left a different cliffhanger for a new suspect each week. It was a whodunnit through and through. It just happened to be a really well written one and delved into the characters. ------------------------------------------ Didn't location photos taken by fans show that filming on Season 2 involved: [sp]exhuming Danny's body?[/sp] [editline]15th September 2014[/editline] Also Gracepoint is the worst example of a remake. It's a redo. With some american actors and one original. They should've just aired the British one in that slot instead.

[QUOTE=Dan2593;45985711][B]Yes it was. The papers were filled with theories every day. They left a different cliffhanger for a new suspect each week. It was a whodunnit through and through. It just happened to be a really well written one and delved into the characters.[/B] ------------------------------------------ Didn't location photos taken by fans show that filming on Season 2 involved: [sp]exhuming Danny's body?[/sp] [editline]15th September 2014[/editline] Also Gracepoint is the worst example of a remake. It's a redo. With some american actors and one original. They should've just aired the British one in that slot instead.[/QUOTE] Chibnall thinks otherwise. "However, Chibnall claimed that he was not disappointed that many viewers had correctly guessed the killer's identity, insisting that Broadchurch "was never intended to be a whodunit"." I see the show being about trying to recover from a loss that you can never really recover from. s1 being focused on the loss of Danny and the town trying to deal with it, s2 probably being [sp] Ellie adapting to the fact that her husband was the killer and that the town probably thinks she was in on it [/sp] Personally, when watching s1, I wasn't really interested in who the killer was, I was engrossed in the characters. Especially Jack and Ellie. EDIT: also Gracepoint isn't a straight remake, it's a different killer.

I think the keyword there is 'intended'. It may not have been intended to be a whodunit, but it was.

Broadchurch was great, I didn't realize I would have liked it as much until I hit the second episode... I watched the entire rest of the season in one sitting

Gracepoint has been released. I didn't want to believe it, but it's literally a shot-to-shot remake, with almost identical dialogues. But its worse in every aspect - the pacing is way off, the coast is uglier, even Tennant plays worse. Seriously, do yourself a favour and watch Broadchurch instead of this. Unless you're allergic to Scottish accents, then I guess you may watch Gracepoint.

It seems like every actor is worse too. For some reason though, my brain automatically expects all those scenes to have accents.

Wow, totally unprepared for how identical it was. I was expecting the writers being clever, making us think it'll be identical, but have something dramatic happen, like Ellie's husband dies or something to shock everyone. Nope... although it could be coming later.

I was listening to TV Talk Machine earlier, and one of the hosts mentioned that Gracepoint is two episodes longer than Broadchurch (10 in total), has less of the "artsy"/cinematic shots, and narrative-wise stops being different towards the end of ep7 (the critic who mentioned these things was screened up to episode 7) with the ending being completely different from Broadchurch's. So, if you're curious about changes, wait until episode 7. But yeah, this is way worse imo. Is it just me, or does it seem like they speed through a lot of scenes. The episodes aren't much shorter than Broadchurch's, everything up until Marc going to see the body seemed like they were strapped for time and had to rush through the dialogue to get there.

[B]January 2015[/B] [video=youtube;9s8poxSE1Fo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s8poxSE1Fo[/video] [video=youtube;9CpulbU_K1I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CpulbU_K1I[/video] (also don't bother looking for parts 1 and 2 they're literally just shots of the ocean with the words 'The end is where it beings' on them)

those are the exact questions i had when I heard they were doing a second season, good sign that they know

I started watching Gracepoint from the beginning, and think it's fantastic. I never knew the show is bad in comparison to Broadchurch though.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isToG5_U1Ug[/media] Looking great.

Well, [sp]the twist was a twist, but didn't really change much.[/sp]

Friendly reminder that Season 2 starts tonight.

Too hype

jesus

It looks like the quality of the show is carrying just as strongly from season 1, plenty of strong characters and a consistent plot stringing you along from scene to scene wrapped up in its small world.

I don't really like the Alec subplot, it's a bit too predictable imo. We'll see though!

Why, what do you think is gonna happen? (in spoiler tags if you want)

Started out disappointed that it was a straight continuation with all the same characters but was very impressed by the end. Hopefully they can keep the intrigue up.