Broadchurch

Broadchurch is a British TV drama written by Chris Chibnall. As part of my research, I have been looking at a few well known dramas and have chosen to watch and analyse Broadchurch. It is a crime drama and based at the seaside town of Broadchurch in Dorset. I watched the first series which focusses on the murder of Danny Latimer, a local in the town. We are introduced to the two main characters, detectives - Alec Hardy played by David Tennant and Ellie Miller played by Olivia Colman. They are called in at the beginning of the first episode to investigate the body of the murdered boy on the beach. As an audience we follow from Miller's point of view as she discovers the body which sets the tone for the series as we now know that a serious crime has taken place.  Miller and Hardy meet when she discovers that he was given the job role she wanted which instantly creates tension between them so we know as an audience that there is likely to be some conflict between them. As the series unfolds we are given clues as to possible suspects including Danny's father Mark when his fingerprints are found near the scene of the crime and blood is found on his coat, he is then accused of killing Danny when we find out he is in-fact trying to hide his infidelity. We also then suspect a shop owner Jack who finds Danny's phone and desperately tries to convince his family of his innocence. Several other details are revealed about some of the locals which leads the audience to believe that any of them could be the killer,  also continued tension mainly between Miller and other characters creates drama and suspension. As a series, I thought it was incredibly eventful with a number of twists and turns, keeping the audience on their feet to keep them guessing. I think this is a really important aspect of any crime drama as they don't want the killer being found out and easily guessed before it is revealed. I also began to root for Miller as she is continually disagreeing with some of the characters including Hardy and her husband Joe about who the killer is. I think in this sense, she is the 'hero' of the series as we learn to trust her and see her as a good person as she refuses to bow to pressure from Hardy about who she should put her trust into. We also see her grow as a person and see her become stronger as she soon discovers that the people of the town are not as good as they initially seem to be. By the end of the series, we see her discover something very serious about her husband Joe which makes us feel sorry for her as she struggles to digest the news. In terms of the character Alec Hardy, I got the impression that he took his job very seriously and was very determined to find out who the killer was, which allows the audience to put their trust into him and think of him as quite a strong minded and driven character who we look up to. However, he doesn't have the same level of goodness and empathy as Miller which is why she was much easier to warm to. The first series as a whole was very fast paced and exciting throughout with characters that made me feel quite tense and even scared, particularly as we find out some disturbing events from their pasts. I also thought it was very successful in choosing a killer who was under the radar that we wouldn't expect, giving the series a final twist and leaving the main character very scarred and affected by the revelation so that we long to find out more about her and what she will do in the next series.
In terms of how it has influenced any of my future projects, I would say that as a crime drama, I think the fast paced feel and constant unveiling of characters and the events of their pasts is a very good way of showing the audience subtle things about each character without giving away too much. This is also a great way of diverting the audience and making them believe that someone is the killer and then proving that person is innocent to show that it could be anyone. I think this is because of good writing and story line which is crucial for making a successful crime drama and something that I would like to explore in my own work.