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David Tennant as Detective Emmett Carver and Anna Gunn as Detective Ellie Miller in the series premiere of Gracepoint
David Tennant as Detective Emmett Carver and Anna Gunn as Detective Ellie Miller in the series premiere of Gracepoint. Photograph: Ed Araque/AP
David Tennant as Detective Emmett Carver and Anna Gunn as Detective Ellie Miller in the series premiere of Gracepoint. Photograph: Ed Araque/AP

The curious case of Broadchurch's US remake Gracepoint: why bother?

This article is more than 9 years old

The American version of the British hit has the same writer, the same director and the same star – so what can set it apart?

American versions of British shows have included everything from The Office and American Idol to Sanford and Son, but there is nothing quite like the curious case of Gracepoint.

Gracepoint is a remake of the British smash Broadchurch, which aired on ITV in the UK and BBC America in 2013. It’s not the first time a show has been remade with an American cast so soon after being imported on cable (does anyone stateside remember Life on Mars?) What’s curious about Gracepoint is that the premiere has the same writer, the same director, and the same star as Broadchurch – though former Doctor Who David Tennant does a growling American accent in the Fox version. American writers Dan Futterman and Anya Epstein replace creator Chris Chibnall for the rest of the series, but original director James Strong stays on for several episodes.

The premiere episode of Gracepoint – which is set in California instead of Dorset, though it is still about two cops investigating the death of a young boy in a small coastal town – is essentially a shot-for-shot remake of Broadchurch’s first episode.

The question is: why bother remaking the show at all if hardly anything is going to change?

“I think there’s a sense, with the whole show, that if it’s not broke, you’re not really out to fix it,” Tennant said during a phone interview. “There’s a huge populist audience who haven’t seen it yet, and they are, I think, who we’re principally aiming at.”

David Tennant as Alec Hardy and Olivia Colman as Ellie Miller in the ITV/BBC America show Broadchurch Photograph: Patrick Redmond/ITV

Carlen Lavigne, a communications professor at Canada’s Red Deer College and the co-editor of the essay collection American Remakes of British Shows, says that its been shown across the board that viewers like to see stories about people like themselves in places they recognise, which is why remakes often change locations, names, occupations, and other cultural references as well as the accents.

“It’s not as simple as American audiences like things with people with American accents. You can look at Doctor Who and Sherlock and Downton Abbey and see that Americans don’t mind accents,” says Lavigne.

Along with reaching untapped audiences, Fox’s remake means they have more control over the production and, if it’s a hit, sell Gracepoint internationally and on streaming services for a much larger profit than would come from leasing Broadchurch and selling ads.

But remaking a show from across the pond is always a dicey proposition. For every The Office there is a Coupling, and for every Who Wants to Be a Millionaire there is a Weakest Link. Lavigne says that there is no playbook when it comes to translating a show from one culture to another. “Honestly, I think if we knew the secret, they would all be successful,” she says.

Lavigne is interested to see how Gracepoint performs, however, because with so many similarities to the original, there are a set of constants in place to provide comparisons.

If a show with the same creative team fails in America it will be due almost entirely to time slot, marketing budget, budget per episode and other factors. If it’s a success in both places, it means that quality writing, directing and acting will always win out in the end.

But the two shows aren’t exactly the same. The biggest difference, according to Fox executives, is a different ending. There is a formatting change based on the way American television deals with commercial breaks; Broadchurch was eight episodes of about 50 minutes each, whereas Gracepoint is going to be 10 episodes of about 42 minutes each.

“The pacing in Broadchruch is so integral to the series, how it was about an investigation and a small town dealing with grief,” Lavigne says. “When we look at the switch [to the American version], we change that slow, measured cadence, and try to squeeze it into eight minutes between breaks. It’s a whole new set of challenges.”

Anna Gunn as Detective Ellie Miller in Gracepoint. Photograph: Fox via Getty Images

Fox made the first seven episodes of Gracepoint available for review, and although it is surprisingly similar to Broadchurch, as the episodes wear on, the plot diverges.

Both start when the body of a young boy named Danny is found on the beach and the follow affect his death has on his family, the town as a whole, and especially new detective Emmett Carver (Tennant) and his partner Ellie Miller (Breaking Bad Emmy winner Anna Gunn). In Gracepoint, however, more is made about Ellie’s son Tom’s relationship with his best friend Danny.

Also, there is a lot more of the relationship between Danny’s sister Chloe (Madalyn Horcher) and her older boyfriend. We also find out a lot more about Danny’s recent behavior in the weeks before his death, and there’s a whole new subplot about a hiker who has been seen wandering around town. By the seventh episode, there is a twist that could change the entire direction of the narrative, and that will either be exciting or heartbreaking for fans of the original series.

The role the media plays in both shows is nearly identical, as is the frayed relationship between Carver and Ellie. The local priest and hotel owner have very similar story lines as does a mysterious chain-smoking woman with a dog (though in Gracepoint she’s played by Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver). One of the characters who gets some improvement is Jack Reinhold, the man who runs the local wilderness, played with a sea captain rasp by Nick Nolte. We also get to meet Carver’s daughter.

The funny thing about Gracepoint is, well, it just seems to be missing something. Having watched both, it sort of feels like going back to a restaurant and ordering the same entreé off the menu. The first time is fantastic and memorable, but the second time, though the ingredients are very much the same, lacks the magic that made it so delicious the first time.

Maybe it is the pacing, or maybe it’s the loss of Olivia Colman, whose performance as Ellie was the best part of Broadchurch. Anna Gunn also does a great job, but her Ellie is much more brittle than Colman’s, who really conveyed the struggle of investigating people she’s known her whole life.

Gracepoint also seems to be doubling down on the investigation aspect of the show and, while it doesn’t skimp on the emotional impact of Danny’s death, it seems more interested in being a procedural whereas Broadchurch was often a study on the sociological effects of a crime. In Broadchurch, finding the killer certainly propelled the action, but it never seemed like the whole point. That is not true for Gracepoint, where finding the killer consumes more story time each episode.

While we have to wait and see if Gracepoint will be successful with viewers, Broadchurch season two is currently in production and will air on ITV and BBC America in 2015. “We hope for the best for Gracepoint,” says Perry Simon, general manager of channels for BBC Worldwide North America.

“BBC America has an audience that loves to get there first. I think those viewers will return for Broadchurch 2, and the audience will grow following all of the media acclaim Broadchurch earned.”

Gracepoint premieres on Fox on October 2 at 9pm ET.

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