MNPD assemble! It's Broadchurch time

[EauRouge]

Notebooks at the ready We should have enough information at the end of the first episode to start cooking up some slightly implausible theories.

I've just caught up...can't possibly read ALL 276 posts from last night!!
But just to say I'm totally hooked again & I never trusted Reverend Rory !!!

Alice, the Latimers appointing prosecuting counsel is only one of several horrendous legal howlers in this. I agree completely with AWholeLotta about this seriously spoiling the story. And I guess a lot of victims of crime in weeks to come are going to be quite disappointed to discover they have no say in the choice of prosecutor.

I remember hearing somewhere about a barrister who was tremendously proud to have been appointed legal adviser on a programme like this, and he took a lot of trouble to let his friends, relations and colleagues know about it. When the programme was broadcast he discovered they'd ignored virtually all his advice, and he became a laughing stock at the Bar because everyone thought the mistakes were his fault. I suspect a similar fate awaits the advisers on this one.

Ok here's my take ...claire is a controller. Lee is infatuated with her. she controls Lee and made him
kill the girls for her - he sends her bluebells from where they are buried as tokens of his undying love for her.

I thank you.

Marking place. Not enamoured with the first episode, not nearly as atmospheric as the first series... Will be sticking with it though!

Claire killed the babysitter next door and also the child who witnessed it. Babysitter had been having affair with Mr Claire. But me Claire was main suspect so she gave him an alibi. However he knows his wife did it but can't tell the authorities as he'd get done for perjury/perverting the course of justice/sheltering an offender.
or whatever bizarre thing the broadchurch writers might think up.
I am sure I will watch it to the bitter end - just to keep company with you lot! - but for me it's more a comedy of errors than a serious drama.

Great thread. Re Dr Who/Torchwood connection we did end up saying tonight that a Slitheen will be revealed as the killer.

Totally agree with Ici and others about the legal system inaccuracies. There were just too many glaring errors for me to really enjoy the episode. The exhumation scene was beyond farcical.
There were also far too many plots introduced. It actually was a bit Midsomer Murdersy with the 'everyone's got a secret and is dodgy in some way'.

Having said that, olivia Coleman was brilliant as ever, so was David Tenant and the actress who plays Danny's mum is totally brilliant (although ive never seen a pregnancy bump that looks like that..,)

My early predictions for the series are that Joe is going to try and lay some blame for the death on Ellie.

When she was at the counselling meeting she was asked how she felt and she replied "guilty" . It was in I'm guilty for feeling so down way, but I think it's a hint of what's to come.

Also Joe had an air of" I'm not going down alone for this"

I don't think she is involved but he's going to say she is.

Gripped already

Is Danny's sister the new girl in Waterloo road??

snowy def watch Les revs

So we think we have established that Claire or lee had something to do with missing girls

She did look/seem very calm while in the garden next door where as lee seems cagey

Bloke is from love actually

I think the babysitter is alive too.

I think there's also an element of 'if you hadn't been so busy with your bloody job you would have noticed'

I don't think it's criminal guilt, it's working mother guilt.

woollyjumpers: "Missing babysitter is still alive, is my guess."

Yes. If they haven't found the body, that usually means the person is still alive in crime drama, so there will be an extra layer of complexity to this. Perhaps the missing babysitter was complicit in some way.

I also felt annoyed about Beth and Mark asking Charlotte Rampling to take the case, though I guess if you stretch dramatic licence a bit, you could say that although it's up to the CPS, her reasons for taking it on or not could be to do with her own personal feelings, which might be subject to external pressure from the family. I don't think there was any implication that she was going to be acting as their barrister.

"I suppose beth blames ellie because she 'must have known' joe was up to something, with his secret meetings, and if she'd followed it up she could have found out and put a stop to his seeing danny. "

The same applies to Beth re Danny though.

Obviously it was Joe driving the meetings, but she had no more idea where her son was than Ellie had where her husband was!

The vicar was very invested in supporting Joe to be strong and plead guilty, and when he met him afterwards he seemed to be working hard at pressing home the message that t was Joe who had alone killed him.... my guess is that he knows who else will be implicated if Joe tells a picture picture story, and is trying to manage that.

Babysitter still alive....and possibly the dd of Claire, born when Claire was a young teen and adopted at birth...and the babysitter did it and Claire is protecting her....and Lee knows. But then he wouldn't he just say? Or babysitter (and Claire's dd) was a witness and has disappeared as too terrified to testify against Lee.

That's the point though diddl. In s1 Ellie said to Beth 'how could you not know what was going on under your own roof'

It was very pointed.

"Ellie said to Beth 'how could you not know what was going on under your own roof'"

Was that concerning Danny being hit by the father?

And now I suppose that Beth knows that her husband is meeting Tom at the caravan

CR (Jocelyn?) has some secret as well I think. When Maggie goes to see her she immediately accuses CR of "marinading (or marinating?) in self-pity". Then CR says that she "can't" take the case, not that she won't and "You know why".

The legal/judicial errors don't annoy me, I enjoy high levels of tosh. Like BOF I still watch Downtown Abbey

And Maggie said something like "We'll get you a team to help." So perhaps something physical or neurological.

I've been watching the box sets of Downton Abbey- I've just started Series 3- I cant believe how terrible this series and the Christmas Special was compared to the previous series! But I'm still hooked on it and will probably watch series 6 too

Anyone waiting for broadchurch interview on This Morning?

Doubt if they'll tell us anything new though!

I don't think there was any implication that she was going to be acting as their barrister.

There was, sort of - in the scene where she said that she was going to have to spend hours with them going through everything in detail. Quite apart from the fact that that would be incredibly improper professionally, it goes way beyond the remit of a prosecuting barrister who is meant to be neutral and objective. It is really only the sort of thing a barrister would do if she was acting for the family directly - and only then if she was being paid an absolute fortune or was exceptionally philanthropic. Certainly the normal CPS prosecution budget wouldn't cover that sort of work.

Oh goody, a thread already well under way.

Back to the brooding atmosphere and lots to dwell on!

Let's hope DT and whatever ails him sees it through.

Olivia Colman, Jodie Whittaker, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Charlotte Rampling: great female line up.

Rory does look good though imho as screen vicars go, James 'Grantchester' Norton has the edge.

Another theory mentioned on this morning was joe was innocent but covering for his son Tom who killed Danny!

Another theory said was joe & Paul (vicar) are gay lovers?

Phillip schofield read the theory's to Arthur (Paul/vicar) & Matthew (joe) to see their reactions but they gave nothing away.
But I agree with PS & I don't want to know & look forward to the rest of the series (& discussing it on here )