Gracepoint is an American crime drama television series created by Chris Chibnall. It is a remake of Chibnall's UK drama seriesBroadchurch, and stars that series' lead, David Tennant, along with Anna Gunn, as two detectives investigating the murder of a boy in a small, tightly knit coastal town. The series premiered on October 2, 2014, on Fox. The network promoted the show's 10-episode run as a "limited series".
It was announced in August 2013 at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour that American television network Fox would develop an American version of Broadchurch, a critically acclaimed British series that had successful broadcasts in both the UK on ITV and the U.S. on BBC America. Chris Chibnall wrote the premiere episode and was executive producer of the series. Production began in January 2014 for a spot in Fox's 2014 fall season. The American adaptation was retitled as Gracepoint. James Strong, director of the majority of the original series, directed several episodes of Fox's adaptation. Fox executives specifically said Gracepoint would have a different ending from Broadchurch.
Casting
On October 2, 2013, David Tennant was confirmed to be starring as Detective Emmett Carver. Tennant also stars in the U.K. crime drama Broadchurch, on which Gracepoint is based. On November 18, 2013, two more actors joined, with Anna Gunn as Detective Ellie Miller and Jacki Weaver as Susan Wright. On December 3, 2013 Kevin Rankin was cast as Paul Coates and Virginia Kull as Beth, Danny's mother. On December 16, 2013 Kevin Zegers joined the cast of the series; he will play the role of news reporter Owen Burke. On December 19, 2013, Michael Peña was added to the cast to portray Mark Latimer, Danny's father. On December 20, 2013, Josh Hamilton was cast as Joe Miller, Det. Ellie Miller’s husband. On December 23, 2013, Nick Nolte also joined the cast as Jack Reinhold. On January 15, 2014, Kendrick Sampson was cast as Dean Iverson. On January 16, 2014, Jack Irvine was added to the cast as Tom Miller, son of Ellie and Joe Miller, and Danny's best friend. On January 22, 2014, Madalyn Horcher was added to the cast as Chloe Latimer, daughter of Mark and Beth, sister of Danny. On January 23, 2014, Webster Talent tweeted that Darcy Laurie will play the role of Hugo Garcia. On February 12, 2014, Sarah-Jane Potts joined the cast as Gemma.
Filming
Filming began on January 28, 2014, in Oak Bay, British Columbia. It was filmed until late-May 2014 in the nearby locations of Greater Victoria. The marketplace at Portside Marina in Sidney, British Columbia, Canada was portrayed as Gracepoint Police Headquarters while filming during the spring of 2014. In one episode, Nils Jensen, the Mayor of Oak Bay, played himself.
Reception
The series has received mixed to positive reviews from critics, drawing unfavorable comparison to the original UK series. On the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 64% rating based on 59 reviews, with an average rating of 5.99/10. The consensus reads: "While it may suffer in comparison to its British predecessor Broadchurch, Gracepoint brings an engrossing, sophisticated, and stylish crime drama to network television with Anna Gunn as a commanding lead." On Metacritic, the show has a score of 62 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Even so, lead actor David Tennant won at the 2015 People's Choice Awards for Best Actor in a New Series.
Broadcast
In the UK, Gracepoint aired on ITV Encore, a satellite-only channel owned by ITV, the channel that aired Broadchurch. It premiered on April 1, 2015 and was released on DVD in the UK in June 2015 from publisher Acorn Media UK. The series has been sold by Shine International to both Australia and Canada. It began airing on Foxtel in Australia on October 3, 2014 and Global TV in Canada on October 2, 2014.
