Ellie of a finale in Broadchurch
HORROR. Disgust. Disbelief. Ellie Miller’s face spoke volumes as Leo Humphries confessed on Broadchurch.
The serial rapist was proud of his sick crimes.
He’d encouraged reluctant Michael Lucas, the teen he groomed with vodka and porn, to rape Trish Winterman after crowning her with a cricket bat. “It’s just sex,” Leo, right, shrugged. We can only hope those same words are whispered sweetly in his ear by an 18-stone psychopath on his first night in chokey.
If Olivia Coleman was exceptional as Miller, David Tennant as DI Alec Hardy turned crabbiness into an art form.
His face was frequently as angry as a fistful of nettles.
It’s just a shame plod missed all the clues. Pedro the dog found the sock used to gag Trish, venue owner Arthur Tamworth discovered the bat.
Writer Chris Chibnall kept us guessing until the end – the main suspects were guilty only of being creepy. The weakest twist was Trish forgiving Ian, Email me at: garry.bushell@ dailystar.co.uk or write c/o Daily Star Sunday, 10 Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6EN her weird cyber-stalking ex. As if ! TV is packed with pukka drama, from Peter Quinn’s heroic sacrifice on Homeland to Nicole Kidman’s sizzling sex scenes on Big Little Lies.
Note to producers – none of them involve mumbling.
By far the best is Line of Duty. Thandie Newton, below, is stunning as ruthless Roz Huntley. The cold, manipulative DCI apparently killed Tim Ifield, framed Hana and is running rings around the Met’s finest.
In a nail-biting tour de force, the conniving cop out-foxed AC-12 Supt Ted Hastings, turning the tables on him spectacularly by using inside info supplied by her horny boss ACC Hilton.
She led Hilton on and then swerved his advances. Truncheon-teasing Roz also smacked her husband about, reducing the poor sap to tears.
As I predicted, she used institutional sexism to cloak her crimes. But Roz’s mangled left wrist is her Achilles heel. Surely one of these highly trained sleuths will spot it? We still don’t know who Balaclava Man is (Jimmy Lakewell?), what happened to his baseball bat or what fresh shocks are in store – Maneet leaking to Hilton! Who saw that coming? ITV were banking on Broadchurch winning all kinds of awards, but like Spurs, the underdog could still outshine the favourites. WHAT could happen in a fourth Broadchurch series? How about: Hours after finally getting off with Miller, DI Hardy gets shoved off the cliff in mid-rant by one of the poor sods whose ears he roasted this series. But who? Suspects narrowed down to half the town. THE biggest red herring was Mackerel Man. Where did he go? Back into the sea? ADRIAN Dunbar, right, Line of Duty... Sian Gibson, Car Share...Vikings... The Last Kingdom... Born To Kill... Broadchurch finale. THE Palladium puppets – not so much Waldorf & Statler as Travelodge and Ibis... Micky Flanagan Thinking Aloud
Debatable – isn’t it just? DULL, insipid bands on Later. The glaring lack of St George’s Day shows. Our chronic inability to produce scathing TV satire. Bex’s bullies not being forced to endure a Game of Thronesstyle naked walk of shame on EastEnders while getting pelted with rotting veg. CYNICS quipped that Cannon & Ball found their original act on Celebrity Antiques Road Trip. That’s ridiculous, they’re still using it.