# Gracepoint
**Gracepoint** is an American crime drama television series, a ten-episode remake of the British series *Broadchurch* that aired on the Fox network from October 2 to December 11, 2014.[1](https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=comm_fac) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/gracepoint/s01) It follows two detectives investigating the death of a boy in a small coastal town, with [David Tennant](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-tennant) and [Anna Gunn](https://www.edgepedia.org/anna-gunn) in the lead roles.[3](https://10.com.au/gracepoint) The series failed to connect with audiences and critics and was not renewed for a second season.[1](https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=comm_fac)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | American version of ITV's *Broadchurch*; Fox secured the adaptation rights in August 2013[1](https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=comm_fac) |
| Broadcast | Fox, Thursdays at 9 p.m., October 2 to December 11, 2014, ten episodes[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/tv-highlights-david-tennant-and-anna-gunns-gracepoint-premieres-on-fox/2014/10/01/87b38cd6-4810-11e4-891d-713f052086a0_story.html) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/gracepoint/s01) |
| Leads | David Tennant as Detective Emmett Carver (his *Broadchurch* role renamed), Anna Gunn as Detective Ellie Miller[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3435532/plotsummary/) |
| Setting | A northern California seaside town, where Danny Solano is found dead on a beach and the case is deemed a homicide[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3435532/plotsummary/) |
| Key difference from the original | A different ending from *Broadchurch*, with deviations throughout its ten episodes (the British first series ran eight)[6](https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/broadchurch-us-adaptation-gracepoint-1201317510/) |
| Critical score | 60% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer for season 1[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/gracepoint/s01) |
| Renewal | Not renewed; a single season[1](https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=comm_fac) |
## Premise and plot
The story is set in a northern California seaside town where a boy named Danny Solano is found dead on a beach and his death is soon deemed a homicide. The investigation threatens tourism, the town's leading source of revenue, and puts the community under suspicion.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3435532/plotsummary/) • [7](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/gracepoint/) Leading the murder investigation is Detective Emmett Carver, an outsider who fills a position previously promised to Detective Ellie Miller.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3435532/plotsummary/)
**The ending differs from the original.** Executive producer Carolyn Bernstein told *Variety* that *Gracepoint* has a different ending from *Broadchurch*, along with deviations from the original throughout its ten episodes.[6](https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/broadchurch-us-adaptation-gracepoint-1201317510/) In the finale, aired December 11, 2014, [Joe Miller](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-miller) confesses and is arrested, but Tom is revealed to have accidentally killed Danny; Ellie conceals the truth, while Carver suspects Tom's involvement but does not apprehend him.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/gracepoint/s01) • [10](https://www.tvline.com/recaps/gracepoint-finale-recap-ellies-husband-joe-son-tom-who-killed-danny-572678/)
## Cast and characters
David Tennant plays the same detective character he played in *Broadchurch* under a different name: Alec Hardy in the British original, Emmett Carver in *Gracepoint*. The victim's name also changes, from Danny Latimer to Danny Solano.[1](https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=comm_fac) Anna Gunn, known for *Breaking Bad*, plays Detective Ellie Miller, opposite Tennant's Americanized version of his *Broadchurch* character.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3435532/plotsummary/) • [4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/tv-highlights-david-tennant-and-anna-gunns-gracepoint-premieres-on-fox/2014/10/01/87b38cd6-4810-11e4-891d-713f052086a0_story.html)
The wider cast maps onto the *Broadchurch* ensemble: Virginia Kull and [Michael Peña](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-pena) as the victim's parents Beth and Mark Solano, Nick Nolte as Jack Reinhold, Jacki Weaver as Susan Wright, Kevin Rankin as Rev. Paul Coates, Kevin Zegers as Owen Burke, and [Jessica Lucas](https://www.edgepedia.org/jessica-lucas) as reporter Renee Clemons.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3435532/plotsummary/)
## Production and development
ITV began airing *Broadchurch* in March 2013, and in August 2013 Fox announced that it had secured the rights to create an American version for its US television network.[1](https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=comm_fac) The adaptation was produced by Shine America in association with Kudos and Imaginary Friends, with Carolyn Bernstein spearheading the project at Shine America.[6](https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/broadchurch-us-adaptation-gracepoint-1201317510/) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3435532/plotsummary/) Bernstein recruited *Broadchurch*'s creator, [Chris Chibnall](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-chibnall), to join showrunners [Dan Futterman](https://www.edgepedia.org/dan-futterman) and Anya Epstein, tasking them with establishing the tone and pinpointing the 'DNA' behind the appeal of the original show.[6](https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/broadchurch-us-adaptation-gracepoint-1201317510/) Chibnall wrote the premiere episode and James Strong, a *Broadchurch* director, directed it.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3435532/plotsummary/)
Filming began in January 2014 for broadcast during the 2014–2015 season.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3435532/plotsummary/) The remake also kept signature elements of the original's style, including the famed four-minute opening tracking shot that introduces the key players in the story.[6](https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/broadchurch-us-adaptation-gracepoint-1201317510/) Composer Beller used the Dobro guitar as one of the main melody instruments, a sound not heard in *Broadchurch*, thematically tied to the northern California, Americana-influenced setting.[1](https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=comm_fac)
## Broadcast and ratings
*Gracepoint* premiered on Fox on October 2, 2014, airing Thursdays at 9 p.m. as a ten-part series.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/tv-highlights-david-tennant-and-anna-gunns-gracepoint-premieres-on-fox/2014/10/01/87b38cd6-4810-11e4-891d-713f052086a0_story.html) The season concluded on December 11, 2014.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/gracepoint/s01) It failed to connect with audiences and critics and was not renewed for a second season.[1](https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=comm_fac) The series had been conceived to potentially continue with the same characters and setting in a second season, as *Broadchurch* itself was doing at ITV, where a second season had already been shot when *Gracepoint* aired.[6](https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/broadchurch-us-adaptation-gracepoint-1201317510/)
## Critical reception
Reviews for *Gracepoint* were mixed, leaning more positive than negative, and the season holds a 60% score on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer.[6](https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/broadchurch-us-adaptation-gracepoint-1201317510/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/gracepoint/s01) The contrast with the original was marked: *Broadchurch* did not draw a huge audience in the United States, where it aired on [BBC America](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-america),[1](https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=comm_fac) but its standing among television critics was exceptionally strong.[6](https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/broadchurch-us-adaptation-gracepoint-1201317510/) *Broadchurch* went on to air three well-regarded series between 2013 and 2017.[1](https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=comm_fac)
## Why the remake underperformed
Two structural differences set the remake apart from its model. It ran ten episodes instead of *Broadchurch*'s eight, and it ended differently, with deviations from the original throughout.[6](https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/broadchurch-us-adaptation-gracepoint-1201317510/) Fox chairman Kevin Reilly had justified the remake on audience grounds: as great as *Broadchurch* is, he said, 99.9 percent of the US public would never have seen it on BBC America.[1](https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=comm_fac)
In her analysis of the adaptation, the media scholar Sue Turnbull proposed another explanation: perhaps the US version of *Gracepoint* drew no viewers less because it diverged so greatly from the original than because it strove overly to replicate it.[1](https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=comm_fac) The production strategy supports that reading: the same lead actor playing the same character under a new name, the retained tracking shot, and the *Broadchurch* creator writing the premiere all maximized fidelity to the original, while the longer run and changed ending diverged from it.[1](https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=comm_fac) • [6](https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/broadchurch-us-adaptation-gracepoint-1201317510/)
## Afterlife and availability
*Gracepoint* remained a single season, while *Broadchurch* continued to three series.[1](https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=comm_fac) The season is available for streaming on Prime Video, which lists directors James Strong, David Petrarca, and Euros Lyn, and on Peacock, distributed under Banijay Rights.[8](https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0S4F6S7LCXJIE0LJAY0535F2MW) • [9](https://www.peacocktv.com/watch-online/tv/gracepoint/7553597131922053112)
## References
1. [Investigating Sound: Visual and Aural Style from Broadchurch to Gracepoint, Marquette University ePublications](https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=comm_fac)
2. [Gracepoint: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/gracepoint/s01)
3. [Gracepoint, Network Ten](https://10.com.au/gracepoint)
4. [TV highlights: David Tennant and Anna Gunn's 'Gracepoint' premieres on Fox, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/tv-highlights-david-tennant-and-anna-gunns-gracepoint-premieres-on-fox/2014/10/01/87b38cd6-4810-11e4-891d-713f052086a0_story.html)
5. [Gracepoint (TV Mini Series 2014) – Plot (official Fox synopsis reprinted), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3435532/plotsummary/)
6. ['Broadchurch's' U.S. Version 'Gracepoint': Keeping the Hit DNA, Variety](https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/broadchurch-us-adaptation-gracepoint-1201317510/)
7. [Gracepoint Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/gracepoint/)
8. [Prime Video: Gracepoint Season 1](https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0S4F6S7LCXJIE0LJAY0535F2MW)
9. [Watch Gracepoint Season 1 Streaming Online, Peacock](https://www.peacocktv.com/watch-online/tv/gracepoint/7553597131922053112)
10. [Gracepoint Finale Recap: 'Every Single Bit Of It Stays Between Us' - TVLine](https://www.tvline.com/recaps/gracepoint-finale-recap-ellies-husband-joe-son-tom-who-killed-danny-572678/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Genre and subject-scripted series › Crime, police, and detective series › American crime series › Serialized crime dramas › Titles A to L*
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