Arthur Darvill Interview: “People Mention Broadchurch More Than Doctor Who Now!”



Arthur Darvill, who plays the Reverend Paul Coates in Broadchurch has spoken to BBC America on the amazing success of the drama. Arthur, who is currently appearing on Broadway in Once, said that he expects to be part of the second series, although he doesn't know yet how much his character will appear.

“I have no idea yet. It depends. I mean I’m in touch with the production company and my agent, but I actually don’t know. I’m meant to be doing the next series. Whether that’s an episode or a whole series, it’s quite nice not knowing because I really can’t give anything away. I’d quite like to find out soon so I can plan my life!”

The success of the series, he says, is down to the passion of everybody involved in making it to create something special and the good relationships and respect for one another they all had on set:

“Chris [Chibnall] is a brilliant writer, and he’s been wanting to write [Broadchurch] for a while. He’s very passionate and he’s very good at what he does, and he was allowed to actually write it and make it the way he wanted to. It’s made with real heart and detail and just has the most wonderful collection of people involved from Chris to the directors to the script editors and of course the cast. It was just an amazing meeting of people wanting to make the best piece of work possible,” he said. “It was such a massive cast, and for me I was sort of in and out of filming. But we all got on really well. A lot of us already knew each other. It was just a really good cast of nice people. But there was still some tension as there was sensitive stuff being done, and I think everyone had real respect for each other for what each had to do, and also knew when to have a laugh outside of it as well, which was necessary to alleviate some of that pressure.”

He also says that the reaction to the show has made him very happy, although he’s not surprised that they have found it so gripping.

“You know, people have been great. I meet people every night after [Once] and people say “Well done.” People mention Broadchurch more than Doctor Who now! They’re really into it. I’m really pleased. And when people say, “Oh my god, Broadchurch is brilliant,” I generally go “I know!” I think it’s amazing. When I watched it I was hooked, and I [already] knew what happened. I couldn’t stop watching it.”


Watch episode 7 of Broadchurch tonight on BBC America at 10pm ET/PT


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