I’d had it with Broadchurch long before the dreary anti-climax that is about to confront us. Never has anything so well acted been so dull.
David Tennant and Olivia Colman, acting gold. Brilliant individually, even better together, despite appearing in a desperately contrived, wholly unbelievable whodunnit. But this time, in mercifully what will be the final series, it’s just got silly.
Now I like a cop thriller as much as the next woman and man and Broadchurch, to start with, had the lot. A mysterious death, some dodgy characters and a deeply unsatisfying conclusion, leading of course to another series and then another.
And now we have the rape of Trish, bless her. Not an easy storyline for sure and ITV’s finest scriptwriters have managed to make everyone in the town a potential rapist. Christ, I will never go to West Bay or Clevedon (why Clevedon?) again. The more potential suspects emerged, the less interested I got. Some dodgy taxi driver, a shifty teacher, a bloke who runs a farm shop/garden centre (it’s not clear to me, but then I don’t care that much) and any number of dullards masquerading as non rapists, protesting their innocence.
Tennant and Colman keep the ship afloat simply because they are brilliant. Without them, the whole turgid affair would come to a complete and utterly welcome halt.
The low point? The torchlight gathering around the harbour to show solidarity with poor Trish and also to let everyone know that she was the victim of rape. I couldn’t help but wonder if this might not be the ideal way to care for her.
Whodunnit? You know, I don’t give a fuck. The answer is actually out there is you do a simple Google search. I’ll watch it, of course, because I’ve watched the first 100 episodes (well, it feels like 100) and I can’t wait for Hardy to read out the police caution. Broadchurch was a great idea but it’s definitely a series too far.
And don’t start me (again) on the bloody west country accents. Beth Latimer the worst, only just ahead of her husband and even Olivia Colman’s was ghastly. Visit West Bay and you will barely hear an authentic west country voice. Broadchurch would have done well to be the same.
