Broadchurch

:

Season 1
Season #: 3, 2, 1
User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 322 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 280 out of 322
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 322
  3. Negative: 29 out of 322
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User Reviews

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  1. Mike_M
    Aug 17, 2013
    3
    The show is melodrama (albeit with some good acting and some good camera work at times). The over-the-top moments aren't earned either, between the lead up to them, the music, the lines, acting and camera-- it's just a full-on TV-being-TV emotional blow out. I find those moments unbearable enough to write off the show.
  2. lesandwish
    Oct 18, 2014
    3
    I don't know. All episodes were good but I'm deceived by the end.
    I feel like they could have chosen any secondary character for the killer role.
    It's just, "we have chosen him because i wanted to". It's not like when you discover him you say "omg YES how could i not see this !". I was more like "ok, with that structure you can make anybody a killer. There is no link between the killer    I don't know. All episodes were good but I'm deceived by the end.
    I feel like they could have chosen any secondary character for the killer role.
    It's just, "we have chosen him because i wanted to". It's not like when you discover him you say "omg YES how could i not see this !". I was more like "ok, with that structure you can make anybody a killer. There is no link between the killer and the first 5 or 6 episodes.

    Plot surprising, yes, but not for the good reasons to my mind. Surprising because "Why the **** him ?? Just no point..."    … Expand
  3. Bird88
    Dec 30, 2013
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The rave reviews received by this show are undeserved and incomprehensible. David Tennant is a bore and the police work non-existent. The program completely fails to deal with the reality of cell phones and computers. Er…the final episode finally gets around to downloading emails from the server of the murdered boy's supposed best friend--something that would have been routine in any normal police investigation. Also routine would have been the collection of all the computers that might have contained messages from the victim. The boy's missing cell phone was live and could have easily been tracked. &c. &c. Most of the main characters committed crimes that were ignored by the police during the investigation. Red herrings abound, but most of them cheats. I could go on and on. It was a really badly written story which hardly anyone noticed. What is wrong with everyone?? Use your brains!… Expand
  4. Pucifer
    Mar 23, 2014
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Pedophilia is of course not funny but the British obsession with it is indeed a joke. In the outwardly charming hamlet of Broadchurch, everybody is a closet pedophile, a suspected pedophile, or married to a pedophile. This is not an exaggeration. The series ends on a jarring and offensively religious-sanctimonious note, which I probably should have seen coming given the inclusion of the especially annoying clairvoyant character who pops in every so often bearing messages from the dead child. And what is up with that anti-abortion propaganda? We are told that an unwanted pregnancy is God giving you not what you want, but what you need. Rubbish.… Expand
  5. ele7en
    Dec 20, 2013
    1
    Seriously, where are all the high scoring coming from? People, have you seen The Killing or Broen/Bron? This one tries hard to be good and atmospheric but I could not for a second believe neither the feelings of characters nor the setting itself. Shallow! Very disappointed
  6. bonehead
    Aug 21, 2013
    3
    How this show got such high ratings from critics is beyond me. The characters are shallow and the acting is even worse. I couldn't for a second forget I was watching actors in a TV show (the mark of bad actors) The story line is equally weak and implausible. I had the murderer figured out half way through the series. Not only is this not worth the 9.1 score critics gave it, it is prettyHow this show got such high ratings from critics is beyond me. The characters are shallow and the acting is even worse. I couldn't for a second forget I was watching actors in a TV show (the mark of bad actors) The story line is equally weak and implausible. I had the murderer figured out half way through the series. Not only is this not worth the 9.1 score critics gave it, it is pretty much empty garbage and that barely rates wasting your time with.… Expand
  7. jackrota
    Dec 26, 2013
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Nine hours of my life I will never get back.......David Tennant mumbles his way throughout the entire series.....filled with visual gimmicks and cheap red herring devices......facile "lessons" ...."how could you NOT know"......filled with one dimensional characters, mouthing unbelievable dialogue......I wanted to retch at the conclusion when the perp explained his actions by saying he was in love with an 11 year old boy......still not enough?.....the torch lighting ceremony at the end was simply a kick in the groin for anyone who has not been lobotomized. Chris should stick to writing Dr. Who episodes......Rave reviews from the critics led me to this series.....that won't happen again......I fell much like the murdered 11 year old boy.....used and abused......and now there is a SECOND season?.....unbelievable!… Expand
  8. ElfQueen
    Jan 2, 2015
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Contrived. Red herrings, implausible plot twists, melodramatic acting, annoying piano recital musical score. Against the backdrop of ham-handed moral lessons of the week. And the none too-subtle tapping into the insecurities of a certain male demographic that all the world's burdens ultimately weigh on their shoulders and their female counterpart isn't quite qualified to handle the job, even if he takes ill. The case wasn't solved as much as the murderer turned himself in, in a fashion more annoying than shocking. His reason, which tapped into the theme of pedophilia running throughout the first season, seemed force fit, a cheap final plot twist.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Best TV Season of 2013
24
#24 Most Discussed TV Season of 2013
18
#18 Most Shared TV Season of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Nancy DeWolf Smith
    Aug 20, 2013
    90
    As a murder mystery, Broadchurch is satisfyingly complex (even if the accents may take some getting used to). As an exploration of grief it is even better, with Ms. Whittaker and Ms. Colman pointing the way. But in its long, slow unfolding Broadchurch is most magnificent in another sense--as an elegy for the happy innocence of ignorance.
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  2. Zap2it (Inside the Box)
    Reviewed by: Rick Porter
    Aug 8, 2013
    90
    Broadchurch doesn't come with many stylistic flourishes--it's a pretty straightforward crime story. But the care given to its characters and the damage the crime inflicts on the town make it one of the best scripted series of the summer.
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  3. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Matt Zoller Seitz
    Aug 7, 2013
    60
    Broadchurch excels at showing the awkward moments between the briskly delivered plot points, and the small details of voice and gesture that define communities in mourning (or guilty panic), and it has the good sense not to overdo anything.... And yet there's something fundamentally unsatisfying about the whole thing, as smart and intricately structured as it is--and it has nothing whatsoever to do with any writing or acting or filmmaking issues, and everything to do with the fact that we've just been to this particular narrative well too many times in 2013.
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