David Tennant and Olivia Coleman will be joined by Happy Valley’s Julie Hesmondhalgh and The Fast Show’s Charlie Higson for a third and final series of ITV detective thriller Broadchurch.
Georgina Campbell, who won a Bafta for BBC3’s Murdered by My Boyfriend, Home Fires actor Mark Bazeley and Merlin’s Sarah Parish will also join the cast, with Arthur Darvill returning as vicar Paul Coates and Carolyn Pickles reprising her role as newspaper editor Maggie Radcliffe.
The third series of Broadchurch will follow the two detectives as they investigate a serious sexual assualt in the Dorset town. Producers said they had spent a year consulting victims groups and the police on the storyline.
Filming will begin this summer in the areas of Bridport, West Bay and Clevedon, which have provided the backdrop for the previous series.
“This is the final chapter of Broadchurch,” said executive producer and scriptwriter Chris Chibnall. “We have one last story to tell, featuring both familiar faces and new characters. I hope it’s a compelling and emotional farewell to a world and show that means so much to me.”
Chibnall is to take over from Steven Moffat as showrunner on Doctor Who after Moffat steps down following the next series.
ITV controller of drama Victoria Fea said: “Broadchurch is, as ever, stylishly written, provocative and thought provoking. We’re pleased with the direction Chris and Jane have taken this series and the extraordinary cast they’ve assembled.”
The series will be directed by Paul Andrew Williams, who directed Campbell in her award winning turn in docu-drama Murdered by My Boyfriend.
Executive producer Jane Featherstone said: “We will return to the town and characters we know so well as they find themselves caught up in a new and compelling story which will test the strength of the community and the people who live there, and will, I hope, be a fitting end to this trilogy.”
Broadchurch’s second season failed to live up to the critical claim and audience appeal of its first when it returned in January last year. Despite a strong start of 7.1 million viewers, the number of people tuning in fell steadily as the series progressed.
