Whodunnit?
As Broadchurch reaches its climax ...your guide to the prime suspects
It’s the TV whodunnit which has kept 11 million viewers guessing for the best part of two months. And tonight we will finally find out who was responsible for the rape of Trish Winterman (Julie Hesmondhalgh) – and, potentially, at least two other attacks.
To keep the secret until the last minute, ITV has taken the unusual step of issuing a ban on media watching previews of the finale.
Even trustworthy TV critics such as myself, who are normally given special access so we have time to write our reviews for tomorrow’s newspapers, have been left out in the cold.
Don’t tell my boss this but I’m quite glad. I’m really looking forward to finding out at the same time as everyone else for once.
Writer Chris Chibnall, now taking over at Doctor Who, has said he was left in tears as he finished the script for the third and final series. “Sitting down to write the final episode was very emotional.”
Over the course of seven episodes we’ve seen more red herrings than the Broadchurch fish market but, like every other fan, I have my theories about the final outcome.
However, I’m not going to go quite as leftfield as some amateur detectives, who are actually suggesting a woman may be responsible.
Despite Chibnall previously stating “every male character is a suspect”, some online sleuths insist mechanic’s wife Cath Atwood (Sarah Parish) or cabbie’s wife Lindsay Lucas (Becky Brunning) have somehow orchestrated the attacks to gain revenge on cheating husbands Jim and Clive.
It would certainly take a brave writer and an even braver TV network to go down that road.
So I’ll stick with the suspects that have already crossed the radar of DS Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) and DI Alec Hardy (David Tennant).
Unless, of course, another one crawls out of the woodwork before 10pm...
Broadchurch, 9pm, ITV tonight.