Broadchurch - The Best Whodunnit For Ages

The eight-part ITV series has come to an end, and those who have invested the past weeks watching it, now know who the killer is. For those who did, it was a rewarding end, tying up all the loose ends, bringing closure for the town and it's viewers, but also they got to watch some brilliant acting. It is at this point I should stress that if you don't want to read spoilers, find something else to do on the Internet - You're welcome.

I began watching this series purely as a Doctor Who fan, and couldn't resist watching both David Tennant and Arthur Darvill being in the same drama series. I never expected to watch it past the first episode. I have little respect for ITV in their Drama and Comedy production. Regardless of how well-written it might, they usually screw it up one way or another. However, this time nothing went wrong. It was brilliant from beginning to end. That might be due to the fact it wasn't produced by ITV Studio's; their in-house production business, but instead 'with Kudos, the News Corp-owned independent producer behind Spooks and The Hour'.

Anyway, the first episode had my full attention from the outset. The initial scenes of the young boy, Danny, standing at the top of the cliffs, before being found at the foot of the cliffs in the morning, dead and having been strangled, were brilliant. The portrayed heartache that ensued was done brilliantly, and at no point did it seem cliché.

As the series went on, the list of suspects went on, from Danny's dad, to Pauline Quirke, to the cruel caretaker from Hogwarts, to Danny's 'friend' and to Arthur Darvill. All were plausible suspects. Of course, as the story went on, information was gradually revealed, to put them out of the frame.

This is how the hit series kept the viewers imagination and attention. It made them feel like they were a detective, trying to work out who done it, and why. Of course, that almost changed after every episode, but it kept them engaged. They were discussing with friends who they thought, and comparing notes and disagreeing. This is why it the most popular weekday drama on television for the past few weeks, with it regularly getting 8-9 million viewers a week. It was like playing a game such as L.A. Noire, where you have to find little clues and piece them together.

The bookies favourite after episode 7 was Ian Miller, husband to DS Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) who was the detective working with DI Alec Hardy (David Tennant). It ended up that viewers, who put together clues dropped in episode 7, were right. However, it didn't matter when it came to the final episode. He was found out before the first ad break, and, if anything, it made the audience feel clever, instead of being told a series of reasons that they didn't understand - which is something that happens a lot in current dramas.

The acting in the series has been top notch. David Tennant has been great playing DI Alec Hardy. However, the one flaw in his character is that he had a heart problem that meant he kept blacking out and collapsing. This never pushed the story along, in only held it back every so often. On the flip side though, this helped people to empathise with a character who rarely opened up.

Despite it having David Tennant, the star of the show was undoubtedly Olivia Colman. I only really know her as a comedy actress from The Mitchell and Webb Look, Twenty Twelve, Hot Fuzz and so much more. However, I have never watched her doing any series acting (that's not to say she hasn't done any; a quick look on IMDB will prove otherwise), and therefore never realised how marvellous she is. Her role in Broadchurch will certainly win her a BAFTA, and cement herself as one of the greats. When her character found out her husband was the culprit, her agony was brilliantly portrayed. But her comedy history made her character believable, genuine and lovable. I will always remember the line:

"If you don't leave me alone, I'll piss in a cup and throw it at you!"

I won't insult you're intelligence by pretending that everything about the drama was perfect, because there were issues; such as clues being anything but subtle, and dialogue at times being quite wooden. But I will say that the story plot was PERFECT. There haven't been any flaws. It has been superb, with it not being too complex to make it hard viewing, but not treating it's audience like idiots. It has portrayed the heartache of such loss, and the paranoia that it brings to a town who have never experienced anything like this before. But also, the locations that were chosen to film the series from formed a beautiful backdrop, and it just made it even more of a pleasure to watch.

Even little touches make the series believable too. The way the media coverage was weaved into the narrative, just made it that bit more authentic, with the family, police and the entire town being hounded. But also the fact that a story of a young boy being murdered would make the national news, so having occasional news reports from Mark Austin, made it scarily realistic.

In the final episode, after we knew that it was Joe Miller, we got to see what actually happened. It started off with him hugging someone. We assume it's his wife; Ellie. It ended up being Danny. Joe loves Danny, and have been meeting up regularly to hug - nothing else. After Danny runs off and stands at the top of the cliffs, he returns to the hut where, in a fit of provoked rage, Joe strangles Danny. From there we see the sequence of events, which carefully answers every question asked during the series. However, it's cleverly written so we don't hate the paedophile, but we actually feel sorry for him as he deals with guilt. We don't get satisfaction for justice served as he sits in a cell. He betrayed his wife - a character we love, he has the death of Hogwart's caretaker on his conscious, and, however twisted, he killed the boy he loved

People are always quick to say that The Killing is one of the best things on our television's. However, having never watched a second, I don't see why. For a start, it's American, and just because it's on BBC 4, people think they are smart and sophisticated for watching it. Well, British television can be that too; even on ITV. So, don't buy The Killing on boxset until you've brought Broadchurch on DVD. It has conquered my ITV cynicism, but also people's lack of respect for British drama. It was brilliant!

However, more interestingly, the episode ended with the words 'Broadchurch will return', with an announcement from ITV moments later to say that they have commissioned a second series for 2015. How this will work, I do not know seeing as Alec and Ellie were both set to leave the town. And one would say, despite the series being named after the town, it is still those two characters who made it such a pleasure to watch. We'll have to wait and see.

So, if you didn't watch the series, you really missed out. It was brilliant. For those who did, and have yet to watch the additional scene from the wake which is on YouTube, have a look below. And those of us who are writer's, take inspiration from creator Chris Chibnall's tweet:

Note to writers: #Broadchurch was a spec script. I wrote it for myself. It's taken on a life I never dreamed. Get writing. Things do happen.

— Chris Chibnall (@ChrisChibnall) April 22, 2013