Review: Broadchurch S:2 Ep:2

Series two of the BAFTA award-winning ITV drama, Broadchurch, returned for the second episode on Monday leaving an audience of 10.9 million hooked.

The episode featured the gripping moment when Detective Ellie Miller returned to her deserted house in Broadchurch after months of staying away due to her husband’s confession of the murder of Danny Latimer. Miller returned to her house in an emotional scene as a member of her old colleague, DI Alec Hardy’s, unofficial witness protection programme in his attempt to protect the wife of suspected murderer Lee Ashworth.

With all of Hardy’s (played by David Tennant) detective expertise, he managed to bug Miller’s (played by Olivia Coleman) home with cameras and microphones in order to catch any confession from Ashworth related to Hardy’s failed previous case in Sandbrook investigating the murder of two cousins. Despite his cunning and sophisticated plan to catch Ashworth out, it seems that Hardy’s plan, in the end, is, er, not so cunning or sophisticated as his closest thing to a best friend, Miller, is sidetracked by Beth Latimer, Danny’s mother.

Miller lets her guard down as she sees Beth and moves away from the house as Beth begins to shout at her as though it was her fault her husband supposedly murdered her son. Although nobody can seem to get to grips with Beth’s anger in the real world, it makes for great entertainment as her waters break in the middle of the street.

As well as the coming of babies and witness protection programmes that aren’t really witness protection programmes, there is the ongoing trial of Danny Latimer’s murder. Joe Miller, Ellie’s husband, proceeds to claim he is not guilty of the murder of Danny Latimer which, once again, shocks the audience and residents of Broadchurch. Chris Chibnall, the mastermind behind it all, creates one of the most awkward and gripping Broadchurch scenes in history as Beth is asked about her relationship with her husband. All of the secrets surrounding her husband Mark’s affair are revealed along with the fact he hit his son – ‘only once’, though, as Beth proceeds to repeat… because that’s still just fine. Not.

However, the courtroom scene takes a sudden painful twist as the decision to disregard Joe Miller’s confession of the murder to Hardy is debated. After Ellie’s violent attack on him after she found out he killed Danny, the credibility of his confession was not clear and it is up to the Judge to decide whether or not the Jury have to take it into consideration. Good going, Miller.

Broadchurch returns next Monday at 9pm on ITV for the third episode of the series.