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Interview: Olivia Colman and Jodie Whittaker talk ‘Broadchurch’

Posted on October 1, 2013 by BeverleyButterfly

“Broadchurch” ends its eight-episode run on Wednesday (September 25) on BBC America.

For American viewers patient enough to avoid just rushing to BitTorrent sites after getting hooked on this British murder mystery, answers are finally coming.

Yes, answers are coming in the death of Danny Latimer, but what are the chances that those answers will bring satisfaction to Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller (Oliva Colman) or closure to grieving mother Beth Latimer (Jodie Whittaker)? Well, that’s what “Broadchurch” is really about.

Back in July at the Television Critics Association press tour, I sat down for 10 minutes with Colman (“Tyrannosaur”) and Whittaker (“Venus”) to talk about their twisty, emotional murder mystery, which was a sensation in the UK. The conversation took place before the premiere, but I didn’t transcribe the interview in time and once I transcribed it, I realized it would be just as effective before the finale, since it really spoils nothing.

So warm up for Wednesday’s finale with my chat with Colman and Whittaker, after the break…

HitFix: First off, could you say your names so I’ll be able to differentiate when I transcribe?

Olivia Colman: I’m Olivia Colman.

Jodie Whittaker: I’m Jodie Whittaker.

Olivia Colman: That’s “Colman” with no “e.”

HitFix: Which I actually messed up last night when I was tweeting about how good you are in this, so you can take that as an insult or a compliment.

Olivia Colman: Oh, well it’s very hard to be cross at you then.

HitFix: So I enjoyed this a lot, but I’ll admit that at least initially, I was like, “Oh, not another long-term murder investigation drama, do we need one of those?” and then it becomes clear that it’s much more than that. Did you guys have similar thoughts when you first approached the project?

Jodie Whittaker: I don’t know if we do them as often as you guys.

Olivia Colman: No, I think that’s probably true. And also, ours are never as long, because we can’t really afford to do it. The fact that we had eight hours to do this was very unusual for us in The UK and a credit to the channel who read the script, liked it and said, “OK. Yeah. We’re gonna give you eight hours worth of slot,” which is extraordinary.

Jodie Whittaker: I think Chris [Chibnall], the writer, pitched for 10 and they went, “Alright. We’ll give you eight.”

HitFix: How did the schedule or production pace on something this long feel different from what you’ve been accustomed to doing on TV?

Olivia Colman: Well, it just means you get more chance to do it justice. Know what I mean? Every character has a full arc. They’re all multi-faceted full people. You are away from home for longer, which is hard, but being able to do it well, you feel like you can if you’ve got longer to do it.

Jodie Whittaker: And you’re in an environment where you trust all the powerful people. The directors were wonderful. The writer were there the whole way through and was at the end of the phone for any question.

Olivia Colman: Yeah, he was brilliant.

Jodie Whittaker: And the producers were fantastic. I think it’s one of the most ensemble pieces I’ve ever been a part of for that. We were a real family.

Olivia Colman: It’s lovely when you know that the people at the top… I think the commissioner of it refused to read the last episode. He wanted to enjoy it with everybody else. When you’ve got that backing, when somebody is just enjoying what you’re doing so much, it’s a lovely feeling. And it’s an unusual feeling.

HitFix: And that last script, how was it distributed?

Jodie Whittaker: We got six, seven and eight…

Olivia Colman: You keep saying this, but is that true? I think it’s not.

Jodie Whittaker: We got six, seven and eight on a Friday in Late October. I’ll set the scene.

Olivia Colman: No! No, we got six and seven and then eight didn’t come for ages. Do you remember? We were all going, “Are you kidding me?” because we’d read six and seven.

Jodie Whittaker: Oh right!

Olivia Colman: I think eight was… because he was still fiddling. We almost didn’t get it.

Jodie Whittaker: Oh right. Mine’s a better story. I’ve said it about 15 times.

Olivia Colman: So I’m gonna go with Jodie. Otherwise it makes her look really stupid. [They both laugh.]

HitFix: Regardless of exactly the timing, when you got it, how quickly did you go to read it and go to the end?

Jodie Whittaker: Oh God yeah!

Olivia Colman: Everyone.

Jodie Whittaker: No one knew. The person who did it didn’t know.

Olivia Colman: We were all filming in Bristol and by the time everyone had arrived back home in London on that Friday night, everyone had read all three, pouring through it on the trains and phoning each other. We filmed everything pretty much chronologically, so we didn’t know right up til three-quarters of the way through or later who’d done it.

HitFix: And what was your one-word immediate reaction to when you saw who it was.

Olivia Colman: Oh, we’ve gotta be careful to say the wrong thing. I think knew…

Jodie Whittaker: I knew. By then, we were all with it for four-and-a-half months and we were in it.

Olivia Colman: By that point, the “whodunnit” didn’t matter. It was a “howdunnit” and a “whydunnit.”

Jodie Whittaker: Yeah, it’s not just that.

Olivia Colman: And that was the most shocking thing for me, I think. We sorta maybe had got whodunnit, but when you get [she says the gender of the killer, laughs and corrects herself] their reasons…

Jodie Whittaker: Don’t spoil it, will ya?

HitFix: Heavens no. I wouldn’t want to. Did you guys watch it week-to-week in the UK?

Olivia Colman: Yeah, when it was on, actually I did. I didn’t see everybody else’s scenes and that’s why it’s so nice to watch. Awww… Andy Buchan…

Jodie Whittaker: The guy that played my husband in it is amazing. Every scene you did with him was an extraordinary process. But for all of us, everything to do with David Bradley and everyone, that was what was amazing, but also quite terrifying. You knew there wasn’t a weak link, so you’re like, “Please don’t be me! Please don’t be me!” So yeah, it was fun and I watched it for that. And it was bizarre, the reaction. Wasn’t it? It was a real crowd-pleaser.

Olivia Colman: I’ve only ever done stuff that not many people have watched, so to suddenly do something that everyone’s watching, well it’s so gratifying that they liked it as much as you did.

HitFix: Could you sense the buzz building and the conversation building around the show?

Olivia Colman: The previews released by the journalists were great, but seven and eight were not released to anybody so the journalists were also going with their theories and they were becoming super-sleuths themselves and that was really exciting, that those people who watch everything all the time were genuinely excited.

Jodie Whittaker: I think it’s because of the feature of the media in it as well. It’s not just about the police officers or the family. It’s about so many different elements that come into play when something like this happens.

HitFix: I know you guys said on the panel that you had a thing where you put stickers on the people you thought were involved. Was there anyone in the cast who was particularly good at that detective work? Anyone who had the right mindset?

Jodie Whittaker and Oliva Colman: No!

Olivia Colman: No. Least of all David [Tennant] and I, who played the detective. He was constantly going, “She’s got big hands. He’s got big hands.”

Jodie Whittaker: Because that’s the one clue. They’ve got big hands. [She looks down at her hands.] Little. Innocent.

HitFix: So you knew you were out from Day One?

Jodie Whittaker: Yeah, well, I didn’t know from Day One, but I kicked off a bit and was a bit like, “Chris, please! Tell me it’s not me. I can’t get my head around that. That’s not what I’ve played!” Also, I’m in scenes by myself picking up his clothes and t-shirts. That would be such a cheat for the audience, that you’ve gone there.

Olivia Colman: So he did? He put you out of your misery?

Jodie Whittaker: I think it’s fairly obvious I’m not.

HitFix: You’re one of the few people who isn’t really red herring-ed.

Jodie Whittaker: Yeah. Basically, it’s me, Oliva and David.

Olivia Colman: I tried to start a rumor, “It’s David Tennant! Because he wanted to kickstart his career again.” It didn’t really catch on.

HitFix: I know you guys also said that nobody on set was spectacularly Method-y and so you were able to leave the drama behind at the end of shooting days. But what is the key to creating an environment on set where you guys are free enough to go to some of those emotional places that you go to?

Oliva Colman: Script is always Number 1. If it’s a terrible script, to overuse an overused thing, “You can’t polish a turd.” You can’t do a good job if the script’s not there. And then we had experienced, fantastic directors and crew. We felt safe to experiment.

Jodie Whittaker: And we never pushed… There was none of this kinda amateurish thing where you’re like 50 takes later. It was like they knew they had the cast and if you give us the space, we can do it and to not be killing it for hours and hours and hours, because you get it in the first take, you get in the second take. You don’t need to do 15 from the same angle. So that’s what was brilliant. We certainly were in an environment that was aware of that.

HitFix: Last question: You both spend a lot of this series in tears. Do you think of yourselves as being good criers? Have you always been good criers? [They both laugh.]

Jodie Whittaker: I don’t know! It’s not about that!

Olivia Colman: I don’t think you should ever be considering what your face is doing.

Jodie Whittaker: Yeah, that’s what I mean. I think the thing that I would say I would compliment ourselves on is that we lack vanity in that sense. Whatever happens, happens.

Olivia Colman: Yes, that’s very handy.

Jodie Whittaker: When we watched it back, I’m sure both of us were doing things we had no f***ing clue we were doing when we did them.

Olivia Colman: I am not a pretty crier!

Jodie Whittaker: But also, if a scene says in the stage direction “She bursts into tears” and I don’t necessarily feel it in the moment, I feel no pressure to. I think we were trusted. Chris created these amazing roles, but then on the opposite of that, a lot of the time me and you weren’t necessarily meant to…

Olivia Colman: Because looking at the upset in someone’s eyes… It’s not like it’s on my CV, “I’m an excellent crier.” It’s just that I’m an incredibly emotional person.

Jodie Whittaker: And it’s the worst! There’s divorces and there’s all these horrendous things that happen, but this is the worst. It’s indescribable.

Olivia Colman: Someone young dying is the worst.

Jodie Whittaker: It’s not like easy in the sense that that’s an easy feeling, but it’s just that you don’t need a lot of help to be upset about that.

HitFix: Was it hard for you to watch those emotional scenes in those episodes?

Jodie Whittaker: Yeah.

Olivia Colman: Yeah, I can’t watch those scenes with Jodie on the beach.

Jodie Whittaker: I think for all of us, because we knew how upsetting it was to do, when you’re watching it, you go, “Well, that was a tough day, wasn’t it?”

Olivia Colman: Although we say, “Yes, at the end of the day you leave it behind,” but in the moment it’s real. It has to be in order to do it justice.

Jodie Whittaker: And also, you’re essentially playing out things that have actually happened to people and to not take that seriously or to not throw 100 percent of your energies…

Olivia Colman: You’d be doing a disservice.

Source: hitfix.xom – Interview: Olivia Colman and Jodie Whittaker talk Broadchurch

ITV refuses to conform Olivia for Broadchurch 2

Posted on August 25, 2013 by BeverleyButterfly

Many people have been wondering just how a second series of Broadchurch could be made, given that the murder it centred on was unheard of in the sleepy seaside town it was set.

Ad now ITV’s director of television Peter Fincham has said that the second series will be completely different from the first, as well as refusing to confirm who in the cast would return with it.
For 5 weeks the nation was gripped as the sleepy seaside town of Broadchurch came to terms with the sudden and mysterious murder of eleven year old Danny Latimer.

Leading the police investigation was Detective Inspector Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) and viewers watched as several members of the close-knit community were linked to and questioned over the murder in some way until, in the final episode, the killer was unveiled as being Ellie Miller’s own husband, Joe (Matthew Gravelle).

At the end of the series finale fans were delighted to see an announcement that Broadchurch would be back, but were quite puzzled over the how’s and where’s as this incident was completely unique to the town which is why its effects were so dramatic.

One of the shows stars, Will Mellor who plays telephone engineer Steve Connolly who claimed to have psychic abilities, even came out to say that the new series might well be a prequel and not focus on the same characters, or even feature a murder.

And now Fincham has insisted that the next series will be different and not a “formulaic repeat of series one”.

When the subject of the recasting of the series’ main stars David Tennant and Olivia Colman at the Edinburgh Television Festival , he refused to confirm who had or would be asked to sign up for series 2.

And Chris Chibnal, the writer behind the hugely popular thriller, has backed this by telling Digital Spy earlier this year that the line-up for the new series may be a complete surprise, adding:

“I would take nothing for granted, I would just wait and see!”

Source: primetime.unrealitytv.co.uk – Broadchurch series 3 ITV bosses refuse to confirm David Tennant return

Olivia Colman Confirms She’s Signed Up For Broadchurch 2

Posted on July 14, 2013 by BeverleyButterfly

Good news for all who were hooked on Broadchurch earlier this year – Olivia Colman has signed up for the second series.

The actress, who was widely expected to return, has confirmed in a new interview that she has agreed to reprise her role as Ellie Miller – though fans have a long, long wait before the next series.

Asked by Digital Spy if the deal was sealed, she said: “Yes. I think so. I think everyone knows that. Right? Yes.

“I’ve said yes anyway. They might not write me in it.”

The only teaser she was able to drop was: “It’s good.”

She also said she has found the surge in interest in her “scary”, and not necessarily for positive reasons.

She said of the shift: “[It’s] quite scary. Different and scary. And not necessarily in a good way.

“Everyone said you must now be inundated with work. I think in reality everyone says, ‘She must be really busy, let’s not bother sending her the script’. So things haven’t really changed in terms of the work coming in.”

She also admitted that Broadchurch made her stop using public transport, because of the amount of viewers who demanded answers.

“I’ve done lots of jobs, where I thought it was great and I hoped that people liked it, but nothing that has gone nuts like that before,” she said. “I was pleased that people liked it as much as I did, but that many people liking it, was a bit weird.

“It’s quite hard to get used to. I ended up not getting on the bus and train because I just couldn’t handle people wanting to know who did it and only being able to reply, ‘I’m not allowed to say!'”

Source: entertainmentwise.com – Olivia Colman confirms she’s signed up for Broadchurch 2

Broadchurch stars go teetotal

Posted on May 10, 2013 by BeverleyButterfly

Olivia Colman says the cast of TV hit Broadchurch stayed away from alcohol while on the drama – in case it led them to accidentally give away the name of the killer.

The TV crime drama, which also starred David Tennant and has been recommissioned for a second series, was a huge hit for ITV, attracting 10 million viewers.

The Daily Mirror quoted Olivia, who played Det Sgt Miller, as saying: “We all stayed on the soft drinks at parties as nobody dared to cough up that information.

“You would have let down the team if it had come out.”

She said of Broadchurch’s success: “It was nice to remind ourselves that as a nation we are fairly intelligent viewers and we like intrigue.”

Source: hellomagazine.com – Broadchurch stars go teetotal

Olivia says she wont ask for pay rise for Broadchurch second series

Posted on May 10, 2013 by BeverleyButterfly

Olivia Colman has said that she won’t ask for an increased wage when she returns for Broadchurch’s second series.

Majorly hinting that her character DS Ellie Miller will be seen in the hit drama’s sophomore run next year, the star is quoted by today’s Sunday Mirror as insisting that she’s just happy to be in work.

“It would be a bit much to go in and ask them to up my fee,” she said.

“I’m just grateful for a job. I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot.”

Broadchurch was a massive hit for ITV1 in March and April, with the final episode of the murder mystery attracting just under 10 million viewers.

The show, which saw Colman play alongside David Tennant as one of the main investigators on the case, has been renewed for a second “very different” run of episodes, due to air in 2014. Olivia, 39, says she’s seen what creator Chris Chibnall has in mind, and is very excited.

“It won’t be the same format again,” she said. “It sounds really, really exciting and I think it will be even better.”

The tabloid also quotes her as saying that her friends and family were annoyed with her for not telling them who the killer was first time around.

“My mum and dad were furious I wouldn’t tell but we’d signed so many confidentiality agreements,” she said.

Source:entertainmentwise.com – Olivia Coman wont ask for pay rise for Broadchurch series two

Olivia wouldnt say no to Broadchurch season two

Posted on May 10, 2013 by BeverleyButterfly

Olivia Colman’s DS Ellie Miller captured our imagination in ITV’s recent detective drama Broadchurch and ever since its dramatic conclusion last week, the public have speculated on what could possible be in store for the “very different” second series. Will Colman and her co-star David Tennant participate is the question on everybody’s lips, so imagine our excitement when we got the chance to pose it to the lady herself.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com at the Bafta nominations party, Colman revealed she’s definitely on board for Chris Chibnall’s follow up – as long as she’s asked back…

“Well obviously yes, but it depends,” she said. “I don’t know what they’ve decided. I won’t say no.”

And despite having the telly-viewing public on tenterhooks when the Broadchurch finale was broadcast last Monday, it turns out Olivia didn’t have the luxury of watching it go out live. “I had to wait. My husband was at boxing class so I had to watch it with a half hour delay which was really frustrating.”

We can imagine! But it turns out that although the cast didn’t know the identity of the killer until the final episode was filmed, a few of them had their money on Ellie’s suspiciously nice husband, Joe (played by Matthew Gravelle). “We had everybody’s pictures up in the make up man and everyone put a sticker underneath who they thought it was and I got one! I was thrilled to get one but [Joe] got a few. He was too nice. Isn’t that awful that someone’s too nice?”

But the 39-year-old actress – who is nominated twice at this year’s Bafta Television Awards (for best female comedy performance and best supporting actress) – doesn’t rate her chances of success too highly. “I think I probably won’t get it but it’s lovely to be nominated.”

Source and to see the full interview: Radiotimes.com – Olivia Colman wont say no to Broadchurch series two

Broadchurch gets a second season

Posted on April 30, 2013April 30, 2013 by BeverleyButterfly

OCO Acclaimed murder mystery Broadchurch finished on a series high of nearly 9 million viewers as ITV confirmed it would return for a second series.

The David Tennant and Olivia Colman drama ended its eight-part run with 8.7 million viewers, a 33.4% share of the audience, between 9pm and 10pm on Tuesday.

It was its highest overnight audience to date, eclipsing the 7.6 million (32%) who tuned into episode three.

The finale’s consolidated figure is likely to top 10 million (the previous highest consolidated audience was also episode three, with 9.6 million).

Written and created by Chris Chibnall, a second series will go into production next year, although it remains to be seen whether its biggest stars will return.

With the identity of Danny Latimer’s killer revealed, both Tennant and Colman’s characters appeared to be leaving Broadchurch at the end of series one.

Chibnall said: “The whole Broadchurch team has been delighted and properly gobsmacked by the response from ITV viewers.

“When I first talked to [ITV director of television] Peter Fincham and Laura Mackie, ITV’s director of drama about Broadchurch, I mentioned that if people liked it, there was another very different story we could tell afterwards.

“I’m really thrilled we’re going to tell that story too.”

Broadchurch, produced by Kudos Film and Television and Imaginary Friends Productions, launched with an overnight audience of 6.8 million on 4 March and averaged 7.1 million across the course of its eight-week run.

Last night, it predictably had the better of BBC1 documentary The Prisoners, watched by 2.8 million viewers, a 10.7% share, also between 9pm and 10pm.

With a double helping of Coronation Street watched by 8.7 million (38.1%) and 8.4 million (33.6%) at 7.30pm and 8.30pm respectively, ITV had a 27.7% share of the peaktime audience between 6pm and 10.30pm, comfortably ahead of BBC1’s 19.1%.

Elsewhere, new Channel 5 documentary series Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild, began with 1.2 million viewers, a 4.5% share, between 9pm and 10pm.

Paul Hollywood’s Bread came to the end of its six-part run on BBC2 with 2 million viewers, an 8.3% share, between 8.30pm and 9pm.

Source: guardian.co.uk – Broadchurch to return for second series after nearly 9m see killer revealed

Is amazing Olivia Colman the new Helen Mirren

Posted on April 2, 2013 by BeverleyButterfly

Down on the South Coast, it is the end of a perfect summer. Every evening, the lowering sun turns the Dorset cliffs the colour of molten honey, before sinking behind a landscape of lush fields and church spires.

Every morning the sun ripens and rises again, beating down upon a small seaside town with a sparkling shoreline — and a dark secret.

For in the dead of a hot summer night, for reasons yet unknown, 11-year-old Danny Latimer was murdered and found at the foot of the cliffs.

Against the jolly backdrop of bucket ’n’ spade gift shops and ice-cream sellers, the horror of his death seems even more shocking.

As his parents grieve, the detectives scout for clues and the community turns in on itself, the question everyone is asking is: who is the killer in Broadchurch?

In the hit drama from ITV, Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller is played with quiet brilliance by the actress Olivia Colman.

Ellie is the simpatico local cop with insider knowledge, but she has been passed over for promotion by brash newcomer Detective Inspector Alec Hardy (David Tennant).

However, the traditional cop-on-cop conflict has been turned on its head.

While Tennant, the former Doctor Who, is clearly the big marquee name hired to bring in the crowds, he is frequently outshone by Colman.

Indeed, there is barely a scene between the two of them that she does not steal.

With her no-nonsense anoraks and cross-body bags, Ellie is tough yet empathetic, kindly, irritable and so real that you feel you know her.

Whether snatching lunch with her family, dishing out holiday presents to her colleagues or confronting her abrasive boss, Colman is extraordinary at being ordinary — perhaps the hardest thing for an actress to achieve.

In the past, she has done comedy and drama: she is one of those rare actresses who can switch between the two while being tremendous in both.

She has one of those faces that is instantly familiar to TV viewers, but her ability to disappear into a role and cast makes it hard to pin down her work.

She has appeared in, among others, Peep Show and Green Wing. The 39-year-old actress also won a new fanbase as the vicar’s wife in the comedy drama Rev and — surely this is everyone’s favourite — as Hugh Bonneville’s love-struck PA in the hit BBC comedy Twenty Twelve.

Despite winning a host of movie awards for Tyrannosaur and critical acclaim for her role as Carol Thatcher, complete with a blonde wig, in The Iron Lady, her role in Broadchurch is being seen as her big breakthrough.

Some believe it might do for Olivia Colman what playing a similar type of detective in Prime Suspect did for Helen Mirren — pave the way for a Hollywood career.

Modest Olivia would probably beg to differ. She believes that part of her success as an actress is her lack of vanity: she doesn’t mind looking a frump on stage or screen.

Certainly, as windswept Ellie in a rubber mac searches for bloodstains on boats in the harbour or tries to console a bereaved mother at the end of a long police shift, she looks as glam as a wet haddock. And that is the way she likes it.

No wonder that Colman — who recently won a Best Actress Award from the Royal Television Society for her role in Accused — has been described as ‘divinely gifted’ by none other than Meryl Streep, who starred in The Iron Lady.
That’s not to say co-star Tennant is disappointing as the troubled Hardy in Broadchurch.

With all the social skills of a dropped anvil, he is a cop with a past; a man tormented by a similar murder case he failed to solve.

He also has an unspecified illness, where he blacks out and bangs his head if he runs out of pills.

Still, whatever he is going through, audiences wait quietly for the return of Ellie onscreen.

For in Broadchurch, it is Colman’s character that provides the emotional still centre; she is the voice of reason in a community racked by grief and suspicion.

She is the person everyone turns to — even as she becomes suspicious herself.

‘I hate what I am becoming,’ she said to her boss Hardy this week.

‘A good detective?’ he wondered. Hardened,’ she replied.

Four episodes into ITV’s gripping new drama and viewers are still no nearer the truth. Like Cluedo addicts, we nurture pet suspicions as we pore over the evidence.

Was it the insomniac vicar in the graveyard with a hammer? Was it the newsagent in the scout hut with a rolled-up copy of Tit-bits? Was it the dad? The dog? The scary lady in the caravan? Everyone is desperate to find out.

In the meantime, with more than seven million tuning in every Monday evening to see what happens next, Broadchurch has been a big hit with viewers. It is not hard to see why.

The gripping, slow-burn series, written by Chris Chibnall (who cut his teeth on Doctor Who, Torchwood and Law & Order UK), examines what happens to a small, tight-knit community when the murder of a child takes place in its midst.

Rather than just a straight- forward police procedural drama, Broadchurch also focuses on the shattered and bereaved family.

Once the TV appeals have been made, the cameras are turned off and the police go home, what happens behind the closed doors and shuttered windows of the bereft home?

For once, we see how the parents Mark (Andrew Buchan) and Beth (Jodie Whittaker) try to bear the unbearable.

Whittaker, in particular, is wrenchingly effective. Her pale, haunted face speaks of a mother’s pain that will never end, while her sprint along the beach towards the body of her dead son was harrowing.

She is also secretly pregnant — should we assume her husband is the father?

An emotional thriller such as this deserves a theatrical backdrop and, in this, Broadchurch dazzles.

Filmed in and around West Bay in Dorset last year, the stunning Jurassic Coast is shown at its best.

The tourist office is reporting a huge swell of interest, while local businesses advertise their premises ‘as seen in Broadchurch’ as they prepare for a bumper summer.

This is in marked contrast to their onscreen counterparts, who complain they do not want their town to be a ‘byword for murder’.

Chibnall — who insisted none of the actors knew who the killer was during filming — lived in the area for almost ten years and was always aware of its dramatic potential.

In the eight-part series, the beach, sea and cliffs are key elements in the story.

Yet what makes Broadchurch stand out from the usual TV cop dramas is the odd, unsettling atmosphere it creates and the fine acting that propels it along.

Olivia Colman is excellent at acting as a conduit for the strangeness, tensions and complex relationships that lie just under the surface of a small town.

In these neat streets, behind the doors of ordinary houses like hers, Ellie Miller must help unmask a killer who is hiding in plain sight. The question is — who?

Source:dailymail.co.uk – Is Broadchurch star Olivia Colman the new Helen Mirren?

Olivia Colman: Scenes with dead child’s parents left me in tears

Posted on February 23, 2013 by BeverleyButterfly

Filming heart-wrenching scenes for upcoming ITV drama Broadchurch left the actress, who is better known for her comedy roles, in floods.

The compelling eight-parter, in which Olivia plays DS Ellie Miller, opens with the grim discovery of schoolboy Danny Latimer’s body at the foot of a cliff.

She was moved to tears during the scenes when DS Miller quizzes the dead boy’s grief-stricken parents.

Olivia said: “I found it really hard to do the emotional scenes with Jodie Whittaker and Andrew Buchan who play Danny’s parents.

“Because they are such beautiful actors, I had a hard time keeping it together.

“My character wasn’t supposed to cry half as much as she ended up doing but I couldn’t stop myself. It was so sad.”

Olivia is best known for appearing in TV comedies including Peep Show, Rev, Twenty Twelve and Green Wing. But it wasn’t just the serious subject matter of Broadchurch that wiped the smile off her face.

The mum-of-two found it hard being away from her family while filming on location in Dorset. She wasn’t the only one. Co-star David Tennant, who plays DI Alec Hardy, also found it tough going.

They battled their homesickness together by watching videos of their kids.

Olivia said: “The worst thing was being away from home and my family for so long. I don’t think I will ever be away for that long again.

“Stupidly, when I took the job, I didn’t realise it was all going to be filmed away from London. I thought we’d pop off and do the cliff scenes in the West Country but do all the internal stuff in London.

“So it came as a bit of a shock. But David and I got on really well and he feels the same as me. So on Friday nights, after filming finished, we’d leg it to get into the car and head home to our families.

“He totally understands and we’d be looking at videos of our kids on our phones to keep ourselves buoyant.”

Under the glare of the media spotlight, the grim case is investigated by local copper DS Miller and newcomer DI Hardy.

Yet Broadchurch, which begins on March 4, is far more than just a whodunit. It looks at how 11-year-old Danny’s death affects the small, close-knit seaside community.

Former Doctor Who star David revealed how the role also gave him an agonising insight into the lives of grieving parents.

He said: “As actors, our job is to always empathise and think oneself into the emotional situation, whatever that may be.

“This script has great humanity and the writer, Chris Chibnall, shows immense understanding of the human condition in all the different characters and the way the death impacts on the community.

“I think it will have emotional empathy, which is what pulls the audience in whatever it is — whether it’s a murder mystery or something set in the future on Mars. It’s the range of characters and their responses to this horribly heightened situation that make Broadchurch so compelling.”

The drama, which also stars Birds Of A Feather’s Pauline Quirke, has plenty of twists and turns — for both viewers and the cast who were kept in the dark as to the outcome.

David explained: “I had two scripts to look at and knew that other scripts would be appearing throughout the process. But we wouldn’t get final scripts until months into the shoot. It was a gamble.

“But the fact that I read it from cover to cover in one pass and was left at the end of the first episode desperately wanting to know what happens next was telling.

“That initial response is always worth noting. If it grabs you and you want to know more, and if you’re intrigued by the characters in that first moment, that’s always something to be pursued.”

He added: “When you’re playing those initial interviews with characters and you genuinely don’t know what the truth is, you can’t load those scenes with ‘actorly’ tricks.

“You have to play it for what it is, which can only make it more real. You can be as exasperated about the mystery of the characters as the audience will be.

“It’s great to be part of something where all the characters have powerful stories to tell. There’s the whodunit aspect but there are other stories going on and such wonderful people portraying those parts.

“It’s great to be able to see those characters and worlds develop.”

Source: thesun.co.uk – Olivia Colman scenes with dead childs parents left me in tears

Colman: Broadchurch so emotional

Posted on February 7, 2013 by BeverleyButterfly

Olivia Colman has confessed she had to stop herself bursting into tears on the set of new crime drama Broadchurch, because the story is so sad.

The Peep Show star plays Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller in the ITV drama, who is investigating the murder of a boy found on a beach, and the actress confessed she found Jodie Whittaker and Andrew Buchan’s performances as the bereaved parents overpowering.

Olivia said: “They were amazing, but I couldn’t look at them without sobbing.”

She added: “It’s quite upsetting. But it was lovely. I worked with David Tennant, who is the nicest man in the world, so that was a joy working with somebody so lovely.”

The drama was filmed on the Dorset coast, and Olivia revealed she had been hoping to treat her family to a seaside holiday on her days off, but the terrible British weather got in the way.

She said: “I was going to book a caravan for my kids to come and everything and then it p***ed it down, so we didn’t.”

Source: tv.uk.msn.com – Colman: Boardchurch so emotional