Broadchurch
Episode 1
TV Flash files “Episode 1” as a desk essential hour — Broadchurch (2013–2017) on ITV, season 3, episode 1, aired 2017-02-27, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E01: listed hour 17 of 24 in the Broadchurch guide, first listed hour of season 3. It aired 2017-02-27 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Episode 8” (S02E08). Next is “Episode 2” (S03E02).
Essential hour: “Episode 1”. The final-season open is communal weather again — the mystery still the town, not the twist clock.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Three years later... Ellie and Hardy are called out to attend to a woman who has reported a serious sexual assault. They take the woman - Trish Winterman - to the SARC (Sexual Assault Referral Centre) where she is examined. There's no doubt she's been raped - but where, and when, and by whom? Hardy and Ellie tell Trish that an ISVA, (Independent Sexual Violence Advisor) will be in touch soon. This person will help and guide her through the legal and investigative process that will now unfold around her. Working on a clue found at Trish's house, Hardy and Ellie discover the crime scene and call in SOCO to gather evidence. But it is an unusual and difficult crime scene - will they find anything useful? The initial forensics report confirms Hardy and Ellie's earlier suspicions - this was not an opportunistic attack, it was planned. Hardy concludes that they have a serious sexual predator at large in the town, someone who may strike again.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Episode 1 sit in the Broadchurch guide?
S03E01 is listed hour 17 of 24 — first listed hour of season 3, season 3 episode 1.
When did Broadchurch S03E01 air?
Episode 1 aired 2017-02-27 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Do I need all three series?
Season one is the masterclass in communal mystery people mean. Later series continue Hardy/Miller; the first coastline is a complete grief procedural.
In the series
Why this series still plays
A child's murder in a tight coastal town, David Tennant and Olivia Colman against a coastline of secrets. Chris Chibnall treats communal grief as the real mystery, not the twist clock. Season one especially: empathy over gimmick, a grief procedural that launched a wave of town-in-mourning crime.
So about the "no one does grief like *Broadchurch*" line: it is praise and a warning, and the group chat still uses it as a spoiler fence. (I said spoiler-free. The town is the spoiler.) Chris Chibnall's ITV crime drama (2013–2017) puts David Tennant's Alec Hardy and Olivia Colman's Ellie Miller against a coastline of secrets after a child's murder in a tight coastal town where everyone knows too much. Jodie Whittaker, Andrew Buchan, Arthur Darvill. Empathy over twist mania. Grief procedural done right. Lana can…
Filed against
- David Tennant as Alec Hardy
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- Jodie Whittaker as Beth Latimer
Jodie Whittaker’s Beth Latimer made Broadchurch a grief procedural — a child’s murder in a tight coastal town, David Tennant and Olivia Colman against a coastline of secrets. Chris Chibnall treats communal ache as the real mystery. TV…
- Andrew Buchan as Mark Latimer
Andrew Buchan’s Mark Latimer carried Broadchurch’s communal grief — a child’s murder in a tight coastal town, David Tennant and Olivia Colman against a coastline of secrets. Chris Chibnall treating empathy as the real mystery, not a twist…
- Arthur Darvill as Rev. Paul Coates
Arthur Darvill’s Rev. Paul Coates walked Broadchurch’s coastline of secrets as communal grief in a collar — a child’s murder in a tight town, Tennant and Colman against the cliff, Chibnall treating empathy as the mystery instead of a…