David Tennant: Gracepoint Name Changes And Bringing A Phenomenon To The US



David Tennant, star of both the acclaimed UK drama series Broadchurch and its American remake Gracepoint, has talked to USA Today about making the adaptation for US TV. Both series explore the impact of the murder of a young boy on a seaside community, but there are differences promised, including a new ending. David spoke about the characters he played – Broadchurch’s Alec Hardy and his Gracepoint counterpart Emmett Carver – and how they are both similar and different.

"Many of their circumstances are similar. They look quite similar, obviously. I have a scruffy beard in both”, he said. "But they come from different places, have different backgrounds and the circumstances of their lives are different, as becomes apparent as the series goes on.[Carver] feels different, which may have something to do with the alchemy of working with different people, having a different accent and slight differences of story beats,"

Emmett Carver also has had a name change from the original series’ Alec Hardy, part of the process of transferring a story set on the south-western coast of the UK to the northern Californian seaboard. Alec Hardy, it was felt, sounded too British, and along with Olly Stevens, Nige Carter and several other characters, the names were given a more American feel.

Broadchurch was previously aired in America, but only on subscription channel BBC America, and less than 1% of the population watched it. This was the main reason to bring the story to a wider American audience. David says he was keen to be part of the American adaptation, citing series creator Chris Chibnall’s original story as a major attractor.

 "You know it's a good script. You know it's an interesting character, so it's sort of a no-brainer to be involved in retelling a story that works and has been a bit of a phenomenon back home," he says.



Gracepoint premieres tonight on FOX TV in the USA and on Global in Canada at 9pm/8c 




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