Too Much Tennant? Never!

David Tennant: The hardest working man in show business.

 

Is it possible to see too much of David Tennant? No matter your answer (even if it’s “Who?”), prepare yourself for a whole lotta David Tennant in the coming months.

First up is The Escape Artist, a legal thriller that will air in the U.S. on PBS Masterpiece Mystery June 15 and 22 (and that we’ll cover here on CriminalElement, natch). The two-parter about a defense attorney who might have secured one “not guilty” verdict too many, was created and written by David Wolstencroft, who also created MI5 (Spooks).

Then we have Gracepoint

For reasons that must have made sense to someone, Fox has decided to remake the BAFTA-winning ITV series Broadchurch, only this time it’s set in the U.S. As he did in the U.K. series, David Tennant (now sporting an American accent that doesn’t suit him at all) stars as a detective called in to investigate the murder of a young boy in a close-knit coastal community. Anna Gunn plays his colleague Ellie Miller, Michael Peña is the victim’s father, and yes, that’s Nick Nolte in the trailer for the 10-part series coming this fall.

If you saw Broadchurch, which aired on BBC America last year, you’ll recognize in this trailer nearly shot-by-shot recreations of pivotal scenes from the original. Why do it again? (Really. I’m asking why.)

Especially since…

Series 2 of Broadchurch just began shooting in the U.K. fresh off BAFTA wins for Best Drama Series, Best Actress (Olivia Colman), and Best Supporting Actor (David Bradley). David Tennant is back with his natural voice as DI Alec Harvey and Olivia Colman returns as DS Ellie Miller. Several other cast members are back as well, and joining them will be Charlotte Rampling, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, James D’Arcy, and Eve Myles.

Chris Chibnall, the series creator and writer, also wrote series 2. In the official announcement from ITV, director of drama Steve November says, “We’re delighted Broadchurch is back in production, but we’re remaining tight-lipped about how the story develops.” Yet despite efforts to keep everything hush-hush, fan photos were leaked onto Twitter just as soon as filming started in late May. (Search out spoilers if you want, but please don’t  post them here!)

BBC America should bring it to us next year. They’d be silly not to, ’cause you know you simply can’t have too much David Tennant.