The murder of a young boy in a small coastal town brings a media frenzy, which threatens to tear the community apart.
Contrary to popular belief, Broadchurch is not based on or a remake of Danish show The Killing, and the script for Broadchurch actually predates The Killing by at least five years. Chris Chibnall originally had the idea for Broadchurch and started working on the script in 2002. However it took him ten years to get the show on air.
I have just finished watching this drama at two sittings. Tense it was, indeed, but its real strength lies in the portrayal of a small, closely-knit community and the explosion/implosion when disaster strikes. It takes place in a southern, sunlit town in Dorset, but the mood is sombre, with hardly a smile breaking the gloom.

The performers are uniformly good, but I have one reservation. As much as I like David Tennant as an actor and a comic (as seen on QI), I could barely comprehend his talking (mumbling would be more correct). I don't know whether it's his pronounced Scottish accent (I can't understand Sir Alex either) or the fact that he clenches his teeth whenever he speaks. Maybe it's because I am not a native speaker of English...

Apart from that picayune point, I enjoyed the show tremendously and am looking forward to seeing more British-made dramas such as this.