Broadchurch: Who's The Killer? We Want Your Theories



It's that time of week again when we want you to play armchair detective and let us know who you think killed Danny Latimer in Broadchurch. Can you get it all worked out before the permanently disgruntled DI Hardy and the impossibly nice DS Miller are ready to make an arrest? Of course you can! Have a read through the list of suspects and clues below to refresh your memories and get detecting.

Warning: spoilers below, if you haven't watched the programme yet.



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Reverend Paul Coates

Played by Arthur Darvill

This week we learned that the vicar suffers from insomnia but couldn’t, or wouldn’t explain why. He can’t account for his whereabouts on the night of the murder but it’s very likely he was up and wandering about. We’ve seen him up late at night praying for strength to get through the trials ahead. He had a connection with Danny and Tom through the school IT club – and remember those computer files that we saw Tom deleting? Is there a connection? Paul is certainly on DI Hardy’s list of people to watch closely due to his lack of alibi.




Olly Stevens

Played by Jonathan Bailey


Our personal number one suspect. Olly is desperate for that big break in journalism but he lives and works in a town where nothing ever happens. So the only way forward is to create the story himself. It’s already been successful in that he now has the attention and friendship of at least one big name national journalist. This week he’s been quite keen to find someone to pin the blame on, handing his findings about Jack straight to the police. We have also learned that he and his mum are struggling financially. He needs a way out of Broadchurch. Also, nobody is considering Olly as a suspect so far…




Tom Miller

Played by Adam Wilson

Tom looks scared all the time. From his actions on discovering about Danny’s death we can be sure that he knows something at least, but how far was he actually involved? He was definitely listening in to the dinner conversation when Hardy spent the evening with the Millers. Now Danny’s phone has been recovered, exactly what information will be found in his Inbox


Chloe Latimer

Played by Charlotte Beaumont

No clues relating to Chloe at the moment. She seems to have centred her life around home and family and if she’s seen her boyfriend at all nobody knows about it


Steve Connelly

Played by Will Mellor

Self-proclaimed psychic Steve is certainly persistent when it comes to trying to get the police to take his message seriously, but Hardy certainly isn’t going to be taken in by an apparent lucky guess about a boat in a seaside town. Beth is more willing to believe him, but just as he wins her trust, Detectives Hardy and Miller reveal his past convictions for theft and fraud and he’s seemingly debunked. His dismay and frustration seems an over the top reaction – does he genuinely believe that he gets messages or is he just trying to stay close to the family for a more sinister reason?




Mark Latimer

Played by Andrew Buchan
It appears that Mark did carry out repairs in the hut, so why would Susan be trying to say otherwise? We still have a couple of hours unaccounted for on the night of Danny’s death, if he says that he left Becca at 1am but apparently didn’t arrive home till 3am. Did he run into his son? Mark showed himself to be quick to anger and is more than ready to believe the rumours about Jack without question




Joe Miller

Played by Matthew Gravelle

Joe really is the perfect husband, isn’t he? He cooks, he cleans, he does the laundry, he even gave up work to care for the kids and supports Ellie in her career. A nice juicy murder investigation would really raise her profile, wouldn’t it? There was a very weighty moment at dinner when he quizzed Hardy on whether he would catch the killer. Genuine interest or did that pregnant pause show a killer and his would-be captor sizing one another up?




Beth Latimer

Played by Jodie Whittaker

Beth has mainly been striving in vain to pick up the pieces of her shattered life, but with her beloved son gone and her husband straying she is trying to cling to whatever hope she can. She was ready to pin her hopes on possible psychic Steve until Hardy and Miller stepped in, and now she has taken Karen’s advice to publicise the case more. How this will turn out for the town and for some of its residents remains to be seen


Susan Wright 

Played by Pauline Quirke

Susan hasn’t really endeared herself to anyone since we met her but this week she really showed her true character. She’s sly, a liar, secretive and has possibly done something in her past that she is keen to keep hidden from those around her. Her threatening nature verges on the psychotic. Who knows who she is talking to or has associations with – she certainly implies that she has contacts. Apparently she once went under a different name. She lied to the police about the hut keys. And she has some connection to Nige Carter which looks to be something dark and unpleasant. As the RIB Ride promoter she has access to boats. Also, that skateboard is still tucked away in her cupboard. So, is Psycho Susan our killer or is she mixed up in something else that makes her reluctant to have so many police snooping around Broadchurch?




DI Alec Hardy

Played by David Tennant

It was a difficult week for Hardy. The tide of opinion seems to be turning against the police as the enquiry drags on. The press focus on the case seems to be increasing as they uncover facts about some of the suspects. He ended up in hospital and now Becca seems to have taken a bit of a shine to him. Worst of all, he had to endure the most awkward dinner party ever round at the Millers’. If he’s engineered the case to rebuild his reputation, it probably isn’t going the way he wanted. We also learned a bit about Hardy’s private life, but there seems a lot more to it than just a marriage breakdown




Nige Carter

Played by Joe Sims

We saw a different side to matey Nige this week when he showed a aggressive and menacing side towards Susan. The pair of them seem to be mixed up in something together; this may or may not be related to the murder, but the extra attention on the town by the police and press is making them both quite twitchy. And don’t forget that crossbow. Nige seemed overly keen to do something nice for the Latimers this week. Is he overcompensating for something? Cooking a roast dinner won’t make amends for murder, if that’s what he hopes


Jack Marshall

Played by David Bradley

An incriminating secret from Jack’s past emerged this week which has placed him immediately on the main suspects list as far as the police are concerned, and also as far as his neighbours and former friends are concerned too. For a former convict, guilty of an underage sex act, to subsequently hide this in order to work with children is suspicious enough to have him instantly condemned as the guilty man in the eyes of many. Jack maintains his innocence and remember, there is no evidence that Danny endured a sexual assault before his death. Jack also maintains that he saw the argument between Danny and the postman – or was that someone else in a fluorescent coat? Jack was seen burning photos at the end of the episode – evidence, or was he just ensuring that the items could not be used to support the false claims about him?




DS Ellie Miller

Played by Olivia Colman

Usually gentle and caring, Ellie does have a fierce and protective side when it comes to her family and friends, but how far would she take this? She’s also ambitious. She’s the family breadwinner and was mortified when she didn’t get her promotion. Solving a murder case like this would certainly get her noticed by her superiors. No wonder she was so upset to find that Hardy was now on the scene. You would also have to question whether husband Joe was involved – surely they are one another’s alibis.




Becca Fisher

Played by Simone McAullay

Adulterous drug dealing Becca has managed to get her claws into Mark. Would she kill his son to protect her secret? That hasn’t worked as both Chloe and Beth know what’s going on too. Or is this some sort of deranged and misguided attempt to break up the Latimer family so she gets her man. This week she seems to have set her sights on Hardy, even though her attempts to flirt with him bounce off like water off glass.


Karen White

Played by Vicky McClure

Karen is utterly untrustworthy and now she has established herself in Broadchurch she’s manipulating the public perception of the case to her own ends. It looks as if Jack is going to find out the consequences of his run in with her in the next week or so. We know that her real target is Hardy, and now that she has the support of her boss she really does have the power to make things very unpleasant for him. And if she committed the crime in the first place to set him up, then she could have a lot more tricks up her sleeve




Maggie Radcliffe

Played by Carolyn Pickles

Maggie’s career is fading but she still wants to be the lead journalist on this case. That’s understandable if she killed Danny to give her the story that would let het go out on a high like in her glory days of reporting on other high profile cases. She resents Karen being around, stealing her thunder.


Liz Roper

Played by Susan Brown

Grandma Liz is still trying to do all that she can for the family. She was used by Karen as her point of entry into the Latimers’ circle of trust. At the moment she is one of the few characters whose past hasn’t come back to haunt them




Dean Thomas

Played by Jacob Anderson

There’s been no sign of Chloe’s boyfriend for two weeks now. Has she dumped him? We still don’t know how much Danny knew about this petty criminal and what he was mixed up in. Was the possible drugs ring just another red herring?


Kevin Green (The postman)

Played by Jack Ashton
Kevin's alibi for the night of the murder was confirmed by no less than four of his mates, yet Jack still insists that he saw him arguing with Danny. 

                                        

The owner of the hut 

We still don’t know the identity of this person, but this is one of two people who have keys to the murder scene. Is the owner somebody we already know?



If you're still wavering, check out the latest odds offered by UK bookmakers Ladbrookes (Correct at the time of posting):

  • Jack Marshall                   1/2
  • Susan Wright                   3/1
  • Rev. Paul Coates              6/1
  • Mark Latimer                    7/1
  • Nige Carter                      7/1
  • Beth Latimer                    8/1
  • Keren White                    14/1
  • Olly Stevens                    16/1
  • Steve Connolly                 16/1
  • Chloe Latimer                   16/1
  • Tom Miller                       16/1
  • Maggie Radcliffe               16/1
  • Liz Roper                         20/1
  • Becca Fisher                     25/1
  • DS Ellie Miller                   25/1
  • DI Alec Hardy                   50/1



Broadchurch continues on Monday 1st April at 9pm on ITV. 



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