Which is to say, I watch it, I enjoy it well enough, but I just can't understand all the gushing reviews about Broadchurch. I am a big fan of David Tennant; but frankly his character isn't very interesting or especially well-written here. Broadchurch is flat - there is no arc to his character. Olivia Colman is a great actress and if she weren't there I don't imagine there would be any life to this series at all, given that Tennant's character just walks around scowling. But mostly the format is rather trite and formulaic: small town, a heinous crime, wide cast of characters - everyone with something to hide, etc. etc. It's all been done a million times before. That doesn't mean it can't still work, but the writing has to be fantastic and innovative in some way. And this isn't. It's not awful, it's just kind of ... okay. By comparison, look at Happy Valley: also nothing revolutionary about the format or story, but the actors are great AND are given amazing material to work with. It's the difference that excellent writing makes.
Review of Broadchurch
