Special Exhibit: BROADCHURCH

Year: (2013-2017)

Seasons: 3

Episodes: 24

Duration: 45-50 minutes

Where to watch: BBC America, Amazon Prime, Netflix (Some regions).

I could never be a film critic. I tend to focus on mentioning the product's strengths instead of delving on its weaknesses, so my reviews tend to be unbalanced towards the positives. I've been a part of the process of creative creation, and I know how taxing it is, and how much effort it takes to construct even the most average piece of filmmaking; thus I lean towards seeing everything with a compassionate eye.

That means that, whenever I focus way too much on the negatives, I usually feel a bit of guilt over it, and the need to say something nice. Case in point: I've always felt a bit bad because I started this blog speaking about what I saw as weaknesses on Chris Chibnall's Doctor Who run. I know I wasn't particularly vicious towards him, but in any case I do feel the obligation to put a well-deserved positive focus on his career as a showrunner, because before he took over The Doctor's story, he created and wrote another BBC series which was quite strong: Broadchurch.

This crime drama was quite popular in the UK, but I know it never achieved the same recognition in other territories, so I'm here to give it a definite recommend. What could have been a generic whodunit instead became a compelling character-driven story, extraordinarily well photographed and acted by its leads, and also very well-written by Chibnall.

All three seasons follow most of the same characters and storylines, but each of them has a singular focus that makes each quite different. Season 1 is the main whodunit itself. A young boy has been killed in a small Dorset community and it sends the whole town of Broadchurch on disarray. What makes it stand out is that the attention isn't just on the procedure, but on the chaos an event like that can create on every member of a close community. The alleged stars are the two investigating detectives, the cynical city-cop (David Tennant), and the very involved local one (Olivia Colman). I don't need to dig too much on the well-known individual quality of these two great British performers, so I'll instead say that they're even better when sharing the screen together. There's a chemistry to their partnership that is among the very best of the mismatched-cops' genre.

Even though they're conducting the criminal research, the other characters also share the spotlight. There's the devastated parents of the victim (Andrew Buchan and Jodie Whittaker, who started her professional relationship with Chibnall here); the press (Carolyn Pickles and Jonathan Bailey) and a myriad of townspeople like the elderly shopkeeper played with David Bradley (yes, as he played the First Doctor, that makes three Doctors in the same series, along with Tennant and Whittaker. There's also famous companion Arthur Darvill as the local priest). The mystery is compelling, even though I had guessed the identity of the killer early on by using the time-tested rule of looking among the lest-likely suspects.

Season 2 centers on both the fallout of the murder, represented by the challenging trial, as well as the investigation of a cold case frequently mentioned on Series 1. The cast is joined by Charlotte Rampling, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, James D'Arcy and Torchwood's Eve Myles. At first the change of focus might feel a bit disorienting, but you quickly realize this puts you on the shoes of the characters: after the arduous process of catching the killer, there begins the equally hard one of bringing them to justice. At first I thought it was a moot point, because the fist season had already established the murderers' culpability, but by the moment the verdict was about to be read, I was as much on the edge of my seat as I was when the identity of the killer was revealed on the first season. As a side note, the defense on this trial is among the more unlikeable I've ever seen on fiction, even though they're ostensibly "just doing their job".

Having always been envisioned as a trilogy, Season 3 closes the story by jumping three years into the future. This allows the series to reflect on how the players have moved on after the murder, but it also introduces a new case, this one centered on rape. The opening scene of the season is very powerful and unlike anything I've seen on stories dealing with sexual assault, as the victim reports the situation and is accompanied in the follow-up process. It's very well researched and allows you to understand the plight so many women have gone through. Again, I deduced who the criminal was before the end, but it didn't take away from it at all, particularly considering the kind of investigation it was: so many sexual predators are hiding in plain sight.

As an aside, I should note that there was a one-season American remake, Gracepoint, also produced by Chibnall and starring Tennant, but I've never watched it, despite knowing it has a different ending.

Even though there's a good deal of dramatic license in Broadchurch, there's a prevailing sense of realism through all three series. The procedures are credible, and the breakthroughs on the cases happen pretty much like they do in real life: not because some superdetective makes an astonishing deduction, but because of a lucky combination of confessions and circumstantial evidence being found at the right time.

And while I do love a thrilling tale featuring said superdetectives, Broadchurch presents us with a welcome alternative with its feet closer to earth, which makes you feel like your witnessing a true-crime serial. It's thoughtfully-written, beautifully shot and ultimately hooking if you're in for this kind of atmosphere.