STACK Magazine April 2015 Issue 126

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Writer Chris Chibnall has described his series Broadchurch as a labour of love – an effort to explore how
a child's murder could affect the denizens of a local, compact community and the ensuing ripple effects
of distrust, grief and media attention. Now there's more, in the show's hotly anticipated second series.
BROAD ER CHURCH
S eries two of the brilliant
British mystery series is
out on DVD this April,
and speculation about a third
is already swirling. “I don’t
really have a formal trilogy
in my head,” says creator
Chris Chibnall. “I was just
very glad to have one
series, so everything else
just feels like a bonus. With
[the second series] I think I had
a very clear concept for what I
wanted it to be, and where I
wanted it to go. Some characters from
series one return, some don’t, and there
are a lot of new characters for you to get to
know in series two.”
Those who are returning include Olivia
Colman and David Tennant, in their leading
roles of Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller and
Detective Inspector Alec Hardy. They're the
pair in charge of the investigation into the
death of 11-year-old Danny Latimer, who is
found strangled at the foot of a cliff at the
opening of season one. Chibnall was aware
of the need to grow his leading characters,
but clearly trusts their own instincts too.
“When you’ve known you’ve got those
great actors, you want to keep challenging
them,” he explains, “so I think [the show
has] more humour this year. [I wanted to]
take advantage of how great Olivia is and
how great David is, and how great the whole
cast is: Charlotte Rampling and Marianne
Jean-Baptiste and Eve Myles... it means that
everybody’s really got to keep their game
very high and it means that there are new
dynamics to play with as well.”
The new cast members imbued Chibnall
with a fresh willingness to allow the story
to progress where it felt it needed to go.
“So often what happens in the writing is
you know where you’re going to start, and
you know where you want to end up, but
the journey is never quite what you predict;
hopefully the characters take on a life of their
own and tell you where they want to go and
tell you where they don’t want to go. I think
that’s true as well once you start filming:
you see what the actors are bringing to the
characters, and again you make adjustments
there. Because you suddenly think 'Oh my
God, that person is extraordinary', or 'That
combination is extraordinary', and I couldn’t
have known that until I see the rushes. So
you sort of have a grand plan and then you
course-correct according to how delighted
you are with the pieces as you go.”
This probably makes for an easier
task, considering the shroud of secrecy
surrounding all aspects of the show's
narrative; but Chibnall reflects that the
level of covertness surprised even him.
“Oh, you have no idea,” he chortles.
“Once the episodes start to air, obviously
all [comes] clear and [everyone starts to]
relax. Funnily enough, on the first series it
was a bit of fun not telling the actors who
the killer was – so it was about secrecy,
but it was also about keeping the project
alive, and keeping some ambiguity in their
performances.
“This year it’s been a different project of
secrecy,” he continues. “I think you don’t
want to be secret just for the sake of it; the
purpose of the secrecy is, 'Can we get this
story to the audience without them knowing
what it is before they see it?' Because
nowadays there are so many spoilers and
everybody’s fighting for space, so people
reveal their stories early.”
Chibnall feels audiences responded to
the first series so well because they didn't
know what was coming at all; the production
team deliberately did not release any trailers
or previews. “It felt like that was what
connected with the audience, and they liked
that experience,” he explains. “And we lay
ues and red herrings, and
ple engage with the show
a really exciting level; you
now they’re looking for stuff,
hey’re not just looking for
teral plot. They’re looking for
l kinds of things.”
Above: Olivia Colman
takes the stand.
Main: New cast
members Eve Myles
and James D'Arcy.
Some characters from series
one return, some don't,
and there are a lot of new
characters for you to get to
know in series two.