Preview ITV’s Broadchurch Starring Doctor Who’s David Tennant

Get your first look at Broadchurch, the new eight-part mystery series starring Doctor Who alums David Tennant and Arthur Darvill.  ITV has released the first trailer for the new drama, which will premiere in early March in the UK.

Written by former Torchwood showrunner Chris Chibnall, Broadchurch ranked fairly high up on my list of Most Anticipated Shows of 2013, mostly because of its absolutely stellar cast. The drama follows the events that unfold in a small town after the murder of a young boy places their peaceful community in the glare of a major media spotlight. Allegedly, the mystery series is at least partly inspired by popular drama The Killing, though let’s hope this particular version will more closely follow the trajectory of the Swedish original rather than the American remake. (Fingers crossed!)

You can watch the first official preview for Broadchurch in full below. It certainly appears to be an exceptionally emotional drama – almost everyone in this clip’s couple of minutes is either crying or in varying degrees of upset at some point. The slow motion action shots and melancholy music, combined with Tennant’s emotional vow to find whoever’s responsible for the child’s murder are all pretty affecting.  It really does look quite good.  (And scruffy is a good look on Tennant. Just saying. /shallow)

The eight-part series is set to air on ITV next month. No word yet on when we can expect to see Broadchurch in America, but it’s slated to air as part of BBC America’s Wednesday night Dramaville block at some point. Given the prior scheduling of other UK hits in that timeslot, it seems probable that the wait for Broadchurch to cross the pond should only be a few months, max. (And likely much shorter than that. We hope.)