INTERVIEW: David Tennant , Olivia Colman & Chris Chibnall On Broadchurch Secrecy



Broadchurch stars David Tennant and Olivia Colman and the series creator Chris Chibnall have given their first interview about the new series which begins early next year. They spoke to The Independent newspaper while on location in Clevedon, Somerset earlier this year about the secrecy surrounding the filming. Chris Chibnall believes it contributed to the success of the show

“What’s exciting to me is that the audience discovered the show for themselves the first time round,” he explains. “What we’re trying to do is to replicate that experience for them, so they don’t come to it knowing what to expect… being pre-told. That’s why I’m being deliberately evasive.”

David and Olivia recalled the first series when the identity of the murderer was not revealed until they shot the final episode. David said he was able to use the secrecy in his performance.

“It means you’re genuinely questioning everyone you come across… you have no sense of whether they’re lying to you or not,” he said.
“We were rubbish though because after every interview,” added Olivia. “We would both go – David in particular – ‘they did it… they definitely did it…’”

Secrecy on the series two shoot was maintained by employing two ex-Coldstream Guards to deter photographers, and by shooting under the codename “Tea & Sympathy”. The cast and crew were required to sign non-disclosure agreements and scripts were individually watermarked, and many key scenes were shot in a studio.

“Pretty much all the big moments are not on location. You prefer if things don’t end up in the papers but we knew it was more likely to happen this time,” said Chris.

“But that’s a victim of our success so we shouldn’t be too churlish about it,” added David. “It’s a nightmare for us having to do interviews for this without speaking out of line.”

In the new series a number of familiar faces return with David and Olivia, including Arthur Darvill, Jodie Whittaker, Andrew Buchan, Joe Sims, Jonathan Bailey and Carolyn Pickles. They are joined by new cast members Charlotte Rampling, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Eve Myles, James D'Arcy, Meera Syal and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

“It’s a different sort of suspense this time,” David eventually revealed. “The cast list is huge now. It’s a little bit Game of Thrones in the way storylines are scattered and then intersect… it’s beautifully crafted. We went to visit Chris Chibnall in his office when we were down in Dorset where he works and there’s a big whiteboard with all the secrets – and he covered it up because we were coming to visit. He’d get very twitchy if you went anywhere near it.”

To find out what else they were able to say about the new series read the whole article on The Independent.



 Broadchurch returns to ITV on Monday 5th January at 9pm GMT


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