Arthur Darvill On Broadchurch Series 2: "As Far As I'm Concerned I'm Doing It"

Arthur Darvill has been chatting to MTV Geek! about Doctor Who, his Broadway show Once and his time shooting Broadchurch, which premiered on BBC America this week. Arthur appears to confirm too that he will be returning for the second series Broadchurch,  currently in pre-production and veiled in secrecy.

Arthur talked about writer Chris Chibnall's inspiration for the series, which is more about the impact of a tragic event on a small community than the whodunit itself:
"In the UK there’s a program called Midsomer Murders about a small town where someone dies every week, and that’s kind of how I imagine small towns in the UK. But those towns are really tight communities and I think Chris Chibnall who wrote it based it on where he’s from. I think it’s so well done. I suppose it has to be publicized as a genre thing – a murder mystery, a cop drama -- for people to lock on to it but it’s not any of that. It is about a small town. It is about “this” thing that happens in it and how the people react to it. Chris and the people in it have created a whole bunch of very, very real and very, very complex people who secrets have to come out in order to find out who killed this child. It is really subtle writing and very clever. I was really honored to be asked to be involved."

Arthur's part was specially created for him Doctor Who writer Chibnall, and Arthur agreed to it straight away, although he did have a few reservations about his character. "I said I’d do it before I’d read anything. Me and Chris spoke about it and part of my concern was that I was so young playing a vicar." he explained, "He said, they do exist in age 30-31. I’m not particularly religious; I was in the school choir and been to lots of churches but I don’t really … so I found all this stuff about openly talking about religion didn’t sit well in my mouth, so I met a vicar and spent a couple days with him in a small town. I learnt loads and how much responsibility there is. And there’s an element of theatre to it because you get up and speak … so much is just helping people deal with death."

Broadchurch features a powerful ensemble cast representing some of the cream of British acting talent. Considering the tragic subject matter there was potential for the shoot to be a miserable experience, but Arthur confirms that was far from the truth. "What was so nice is they cast really nice people. That was part of their casting policy; they didn’t want anyone they didn’t like as people. They said that. You have those scenes where it is difficult, emotional. But actually we had some of the most fun I’ve had on a set."

And as for fellow Doctor Who star David Tennant - did they fill the breaks swapping their experiences of the show?

"You know, we actually didn't " he said. "It was the first time we’d really met properly. We had so much stuff to talk about we didn't really … there was nothing really to say."

And as for the much anticipated second series of Broadchurch. Little has been revealed other than that it will not be another murder mystery and that it is probably going to go into production in May. Arthur appeared to confirm his involvement:

"Yeah, there will be a second season. I haven’t sworn any secrecy. I mean, yeah, I’m in it. I don’t even know if I’m allowed to say it or not. But yeah, as far as I’m concerned, yeah, I’m doing it. I’m so used to having to keep things secret with “Doctor Who”! If you get asked a question … but yeah."

Click here to read the full interview on MTV Geek!


Broadchurch is currently screening in the USA (BBC America, Wednesdays), Canada (Showcase, Sundays and Mondays), Australia (ABC1, Fridays) and Brazil (GNT, Mondays). It will shortly be coming to France, Russia, Germany, Sweden and Latin America.

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