Emmy Award-winning actress Anna Gunn ("Breaking Bad") and two-time Academy Award nominee Jacki Weaver ("Silver Linings Playbook") will join Welsh BAFTA winner David Tennant ("Broadchurch," "Dr. Who") in the highly anticipated event series GRACEPOINT, set to premiere during the 2014-2015 season on FOX.
Gunn, who won an Emmy Award this year for her role as "Skyler White" on "Breaking Bad," will play Detective ELLIE MILLER, a happily married wife and mother who is looking forward to a promised promotion. When the job goes to outsider Detective EMMETT CARVER (Tennant), Ellie is disgruntled - but her disappointment quickly fades in light of tragedy, and she must work her very first murder case with her prickly new partner. As the case progresses, she'll have to look at her hometown, and those she cares about, through a different prism.
Weaver has been cast as SUSAN WRIGHT, a glowering, mysterious woman who is new to town and lives in the RV park, alone with her dog. She works various cleaning and odd jobs and prefers to remain anonymous, but has a dark history kept fiercely hidden.
Set in an American town, GRACEPOINT is the American version of the U.K.'s most-watched new drama of the year, "Broadchurch." The gripping crime series follows the tragic and mysterious death of a young boy found dead on an idyllic beach surrounded by rocks and a jutting cliff-face, from where he may have fallen. Although the cause of his death remains unsolved, the picturesque seaside town where the tragedy occurred is at the heart of a major police investigation and a nationwide media frenzy.
Produced by Shine America in association with Kudos and Imaginary Friends, GRACEPOINT is scheduled to begin filming in January, for broadcast during the 2014-2015 season. The gripping crime series will be executive-produced by the original series' creator, Chris Chibnall ("Dr. Who," "Camelot"), with Shine America's Carolyn Bernstein ("The Bridge"), Kudos' Jane Featherstone ("The Hour," "Utopia"), Dan Futterman ("Capote," "In Treatment") and Anya Epstein ("In Treatment," "Homicide"). Futterman and Epstein will serve as showrunners. Chibnall will write the premiere episode and James Strong ("Broadchurch," "Downton Abbey") is signed on to direct. The series will be distributed by Shine International.
I can't get enough of the storyline concept & it looks like it will have some beautiful cinematography!
'My Cup of tea'!!
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About the Show
10-Part Mystery Event Series Premiere THU OCT 2
When a young boy is found dead on an idyllic beach, a major police investigation gets underway in the small California seaside town where the tragedy occurred. Soon deemed a homicide, the case sparks a media frenzy, which throws the boy's family into further turmoil and upends the lives of all of the town's residents.
Welcome to GRACEPOINT, a new 10-episode mystery event series based on “Broadchurch,” the U.K.'s critically acclaimed hit crime drama. GRACEPOINT is an expansion of the original series, introducing new characters, identifying new suspects and threading new storylines through the gripping narrative.
Leading the investigation is Detective EMMETT CARVER (David Tennant, “Broadchurch,” “Dr. Who”), who has just arrived in Gracepoint to fill a high position in the town's police force. That job previously had been promised to Detective ELLIE MILLER (Emmy Award winner Anna Gunn, “Breaking Bad”), who, in light of the tragedy, must put any resentment aside and work the case with her prickly new boss. Det. Miller must break the news to her doting husband, JOE (Josh Hamilton, “American Horror Story”) and her son, TOM (newcomer Jack Irvine), who was the best friend of the murder victim, DANNY SOLANO (Nikolas Filipovic, “Falling Skies”).
Danny is survived by his grieving parents, MARK (Michael Peña, “End of Watch”) and BETH SOLANO (Virginia Kull, “Boardwalk Empire”), and his rebellious older sister, CHLOE (newcomer Madalyn Horcher), who has an older boyfriend, DEAN IVERSON (Kendrick Sampson, “The Vampire Diaries”), unbeknownst to her parents.
All of Gracepoint is pulled into the investigation, including JACK REINHOLD (Emmy Award nominee and Golden Globe Award winner Nick Nolte, “Luck”), a private man who runs the kayak rental service on the beach, as well as the local wildlife observation program, for which Danny volunteered. SUSAN WRIGHT (Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee Jacki Weaver, “Silver Linings Playbook”), a mysterious woman, lives in the RV park near the coast, with her dog. The town's minister, PAUL COATES (Kevin Rankin, “Justified”), becomes the de facto spokesperson for the community as the media descends on Gracepoint. Danny's death also impacts tourism, with the decline in visitors felt most harshly by hotel owner GEMMA FISHER (Sarah-Jane Potts, “Kinky Boots,”), a vivacious Brit with secrets of her own. Also touched by Danny's death is Mark's apprentice at his plumbing company, VINCE NOVIK (Stephen Louis Grush, “Lucky 7”).
The investigation is followed closely by the town's local newspaper reporter, OWEN BURKE (Kevin Zegers, “Transamerica”), who is Det. Miller's nephew. Owen's ambition is fueled by San Francisco Globe reporter RENEE CLEMONS (Jessica Lucas, “Cloverfield”), who has a history with Detective Carver and sets up camp in Gracepoint to cover the case.
The riveting crime series carves a powerfully dark wake through the town of Gracepoint with a startling conclusion, as the detectives piece together what happened on the night of Danny's death.
Produced by Shine America in association with Kudos and Imaginary Friends, GRACEPOINT is executive-produced by Anya Epstein (“In Treatment,” “Homicide”); Dan Futterman (“Capote,” “In Treatment”); the original series' creator, Chris Chibnall (“Dr. Who,” “Camelot”); Kudos' Jane Featherstone (“The Hour,” “Utopia”), John Goldwyn (“Dexter”); and Shine America's Carolyn Bernstein (“The Bridge”). Futterman and Epstein serve as showrunners. Chibnall wrote the premiere episode, and James Strong (“Broadchurch,” “Downton Abbey”) directed.
Is it just me or do all these shows seem to be getting smaller orders? Cable shows it use to be 12 or 13 episodes for everything, now we're getting to 10, then 7 (Boardwalk final season).. And now the networks are getting into the act & giving smaller orders, calling them "limited series" or "events"..
This looks good but I think it might have been better served on FX. Can't see this grabbing a huge audience on FOX. Just hoping they run for a full 10 weeks without break (minus Thanksgiving). Reason I say this is, doesn't FOX still have MLB postseason rights for the LCS and WS? Could have conflicts there and really screw up the momentum. But I have to imagine FOX is smarter than that and there will be no MLB conflicts on Thursday nights, otherwise it seems like a poor decision to premiere in early October.
Did anyone else catch the premiere of this lastnight..I enjoyed it completely and will be tuning in for the rest of the season, really curious to see what twist and turns lay ahead.
Good to see David Tennant back on TV, now and then the Scottish accent is noticeable but doesn't distract from the great production values..didn't even know that Chris Chibnall was behind this...he wrote a few Doctor Who episodes that was really good.
Did anyone else catch the premiere of this lastnight..I enjoyed it completely and will be tuning in for the rest of the season, really curious to see what twist and turns lay ahead.
Good to see David Tennant back on TV, now and then the Scottish accent is noticeable but doesn't distract from the great production values..didn't even know that Chris Chibnall was behind this...he wrote a few Doctor Who episodes that was really good.
I caught it. Thought it was fantastic. Looking forward to the rest of the season.
[Show spoiler]Tom knows something. I don't think he had anything to do with Danny's murder, but there's something He's hiding from his Mom and the police. I don't like the reporter from out of town. I think she's just there to stir things up.
Enjoyed the Event Premiere a lot & will be seeing all of the 10-part episodes!
This is a real for Gracepoint, but not for Broadchurch 2!
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Olafur Arnalds composing Music for Broadchurch Series 2
If you have seen the series Broadchurch then this will be of no surprise, when we say that one of the finest aspects of the show is the music. Broadchurch made use of composer Olafur Arnalds follow him on twitter here. @OlafurArnalds Olafur’s music is haunting and perfect for the show’s dark and serious themes. At the same time the melodies are strong and provide a supporting presence in the scenes that they are adapted in. Take a listen below for some samples of his work in Broadchurch and beyond.
Updated February 20, 2014
Olafur Arnalds confirms that he will not be doing the music for Gracepoint as he will be working on Broadchurch series 2.
Funny. I was waiting for this to premiere, and somehow I managed to miss two episodes. Lol I guess I'll have to watch them on Fox.com tomorrow. Stellar cast.
Fox's 'Gracepoint': An American Remake Best Viewed With Fresh Eyes
by Eric Deggans
October 02, 201412:58 PM ET
Even though some TV critics hate Fox's new crime drama Gracepoint, you just might love it.
And that mostly depends on one thing: Whether you've seen the British TV series it's based on, Broadchurch.
That original series became a critical sensation after it aired on BBC America as a taut, involving story about the search for the murderer of an 11-year-old boy in a small town along the English Channel. While detectives search for the killer, they also puncture the town's façade of civility and togetherness, exposing all the dirty secrets that small communities can hide.
It was an affecting, sharply-written drama that only got more compelling as the series unfolded over eight episodes, the epitome of British television's habit of telling a great story and stopping when it's done.
Except Fox then decided to do an American version with an almost entirely different cast and U.S. setting, leaving critics with one question:
Why?
"(BBC America's) viewing audience for Broadchurch represents really, truly less than 1 percent of the American television viewing population," says Gracepoint executive producer Carolyn Bernstein. In other words: this will seem like a new show to most of the people watching it on Fox.
Good thing. Because in my own admittedly unscientific analysis, folks who have seen Broadchurch will have greatly different reactions to Gracepoint than those who have not.
I watched the first two Gracepoint episodes with my teenage daughters, who had watched and loved Broadchurch with me over an addictive weekend last year when BBC America sent critics all eight episodes in a batch.
Sitting in the same room, we cracked jokes about how similar the first two episodes were to the original – including a mesmerizing "tracking shot" scene in which the father of the victim meets almost every major character from the show as he starts his day, unaware of what's happened to his son, showing the audience the small-town façade about to be shattered by murder.
The thrill of learning a new story was gone, replaced by a weary, cynical analysis of just how much Fox was willing to clone an already amazing British show. But how would this play for someone who hadn't seen Broadchurch?
I found a friend willing to sit through the same episodes and discovered Fox may have a point. Unburdened with knowledge of a previous version, my new viewing buddy enjoyed the show a lot more, which allowed me to enjoy it more.
Aside from Americanizing British colloquialisms and small details – cars on the right side of the street and cops who carry guns regularly – there's a lot of commonality between the small-town vibe created for Broadchurch and the tiny California tourist trap in Gracepoint.
David Tennant plays Detective Inspector Alec Hardy alongside Olivia Colman as Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller, investigating the murder of a young boy in the BBC crime drama Broadchurch.
David Tennant is the only actor to appear in both versions of the show, his scruffy beard and antagonistic attitude fully intact, regardless of which side of the pond he's working on.
It's a tribute to Tennant's skill with accents that you barely notice his carefully neutral American tones in Gracepoint – a U.S. accent that mostly stands out for its lack of affect, as if his character Emmett Carver was somehow birthed in a place with a perfectly generic patois.
(He's not on completely new ground: Mark Strong played an American version of a character he created for British TV on AMC's Low Winter Sun. Tennant also will play his Broadchurch character, Alec Hardy, in a second season of that show.)
If there is one casting change that played oddly for me, it was the decision to cast Breaking Bad alum Anna Gunn as Ellie Miller, the longtime Gracepoint P.D. detective forced to work with Tennant's rude, driven Det. Carver after he gets the supervisory job she was promised.
In Broadchurch, Olivia Colman's Ellie Miller is meant to seem like an average mom from the town who just happens to work as a police detective. Her perspective as a product of the community that must be upended to find the killer is crucial, and I had a tough time seeing the more glamorous Gunn as such an average character.
But that could be my own bias; I've often complained about U.S. TV's high standards of attractiveness for its actors, particularly regarding female characters. Gunn does a great job as Miller, so it is a bit unfair to ding her for a dynamic that ranges far beyond Gracepoint's call sheet.
Nick Nolte is reliably crusty as Jack Reinhold, the operator of a local youth program and a character played with similar flair by Harry Potter alum David Bradley in the British version. Michael Pena adds a touch of diversity as the victim's father Mark Solano, though his race isn't an issue in the Gracepoint episodes I saw.
I have seen seven of the ten Gracepoint episodes Fox has planned, and while there are a few notable diversions from the Broadchurch script, they don't much change the overall narrative for those of us who have seen the source material. But producers have suggested the killer in Gracepoint will be a different character, lending new possibilities to the show's numerous suspects.
So if you really want to enjoy Gracepoint – especially for Tennant fans who will gobble up anything the former Doctor Who star appears in – consider watching it with a friend who doesn't yet know the story.
Because the best way to experience this reimagined story is through fresh eyes.
Gracepoint debuts at 9 p.m. EST Thursday, Oct. 2 on Fox.
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GRACEPOINT (Fall 2014 On FOX)
Gracepoint
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Gracepoint
for Gracepoint, but not for Broadchurch 2! 
'Gracepoint' not a carbon copy of 'Broadchurch'
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