INTERVIEW - Gracepoint On ITV Encore: David Tennant Introduces Emmett Carver



New to ITV Encore, the ten-part US drama series Gracepoint arrives in the UK next week. An adaptation of international phenomenon Broadchurch - ITV’s critically acclaimed hit crime drama - Gracepoint expands on the original series, threading new storylines through the gripping narrative.

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 murder, the case sparks a media frenzy, which throws the boy’s family into further turmoil and upends the lives of the town’s residents. As the powerful crime series moves to its startling conclusion, the investigation cuts a devastating swathe through the town of Gracepoint.

The all-star cast includes David Tennant (Broadchurch), Emmy Award winner Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad), Emmy Award nominee and Golden Globe Award winner Nick Nolte (Luck) and Golden Globe Award nominee Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook).  

Gracepoint airs on ITV Encore from 10pm BST on Wednesday 1st April with a repeat on Friday nights at the same time.

In an interview given last year, David Tennant explains more about the show and his character, Emmett Carver.

"Gracepoint is a small town in northern California and our story begins early one morning when the body of a twelve year old boy is found on the beach," David explains. “It's the story of the investigation of that murder alongside the story of that boy’s family, alongside the story of the whole community really. The ending is different to Broadchurch so as long as it doesn't turn out that I did it, I feel quite liberated by it, by filming not knowing where it’s all going."

Emmett Carver is the Gracepoint equivalent of the Alec Hardy role, also played by David in Gracepoint.

"Emmett Carver is a detective in California, he has recently started at work in Gracepoint. He's used to more of a metropolitan police station, he finds it all a little small town. He can come across as perhaps quite short, a little officious, certainly grumpy about the circumstances he finds himself in," David says. "He is a good policeman but he doesn't suffer fools gladly and unfortunately he feels rather surrounded by fools as he moves to Gracepoint. He feels often exasperated by the people he's ended up working with, in particular with Ellie Miller of course and they have a rather abrasive relationship with each other."

In Gracepoint, the murder of a local boy is discovered early on and the investigation subsequently revolves around this.

"In the opening minutes of the first episode we realise that there has been a murder, the body of Daniel Solano a twelve year old boy is discovered on Gracepoint beach," David reveals. "Detective Carver who thought he was being moved to a rather sleepy one-horse town to keep himself out of the spotlight, for reasons that will become apparent as the series progresses, finds himself very much at the centre of a very high profile murder investigation."

However, the hunt for the boy's killer turns up a number of secrets long held by the residents of Gracepoint. Even Carver himself has a past that he does not necessarily want to make public. David says:

"His personality is fairly dark, he lives in a fairly dark place emotionally and professionally. We will also discover as the series progresses that he has some personal demons motivating him, there are scores to settle in his own psyche."

However, events of Carver’s past make him even more determined to solve the Gracepoint murder. 

"I think he wants to make sure that people are brought to justice, I mean I think he's a vocational detective, I think he wants to make sure that things are done well and properly and that the right people are brought to account," says David.


Gracepoint was produced in partnership with Shine America in association with Kudos and Imaginary Friends. It is executive produced by the original series' creator, Chris Chibnall (Broadchurch, The Great Train Robbery), who wrote the premiere episode of Gracepoint, together with Shine America's Carolyn Bernstein (The Bridge), Kudos' Jane Featherstone (The Hour, Utopia) and Dan Futterman and Anya Epstein. The series is being distributed by Endemol Shine International.

Gracepoint will air on ITV Encore, a channel dedicated to drama, from 1st April. ITV Encore is exclusively available on Sky platforms on Channel 123 and NOW TV.

Source: ITV Press Centre


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