Recently separated from her husband, Trish Winter man (Julie Hesmondhalgh) attends the 50th birthday ceelbrations of her best friend in a stately home out in the country. After going outside, she hears someone calling her name in the grounds and following the voice, is hit from behind and raped.
The first scenes are glacial. We are taken through police "processing" of the rape victim. It methodical and empathetic. Time seems to crawl as the procedural, forensic and evidential elements are ticked off.
The harrowing experience of the assault is written all over Trish's face. She says little to Detective Inspector Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman). We don't spend a lot of time with the dynamic duo apart from police work. A new detective constable is annoying Hardy. Miller's father is now living with her.
The series has also managed to draw the Latimers back into the frame, seamlessly. Beth now works for victim support. Mark is still plotting how to get justice for Joe Miller after he admitted killing his son but plead not guilty and was acquitted
Their pain is still palpable. Beth is trying to move on, Mark can't.
But this series will belong to Trish, and the acting chops of Hesmondhalgh. Whether huddling under a window sill to hide from callers or taking faltering steps to attend a beach footy game, she is superb.
One of the most brilliant pieces has been the change in Trish in flashback from scared victim to party goer. Bright, bubbly, flirty and fun, it's as if there are two different people. Bopping round the mansion with a smoke in hand, she is a dynamo.
And then the assault.
At the heart of this series will always be the squabbling, likeable unit that is Miller and Hardy.
But with finely drawn other characters and a genuine whodunnit playing out, Broadchurch has broad appeal. Welcome back.
