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Gracepoint
Gracepoint“The eagerly-awaited American
  adaptation of international phenomenon
  Broadchurch makes its debut on home
  entertainment this Summer — set in
  Gracepoint, an idyllic small Northern
  Californian seaside town where the
  peaceful existence of the inhabitants
  is shattered by the discovery of
  a young boy’s body on the beach...”

THE SLOW-BURNING BRITISH MURDER MYSTERY Broadchurch has been adapted on the other side of the pond; adding a new dimension to the story of the repercussions on the community following the discovery of the body of a twelve-year-old boy on the idyllic beach of a small Californian seaside town called Gracepoint.

Detective Ellie Miller (Emmy Award-winner Anna Gunn: Breaking Bad; Enemy Of The State) has returned from vacation expecting a promotion but is angry and upset to find that she has been overlooked in favour of newcomer Detective Emmett Carver (David Tennant: Broadchurch; Dr Who).

“Gracepoint is an
intriguing, compelling
and complex drama
with thoroughly
believable characters
portrayed by
a talented cast working
cohesively together to
tell a tragic, nail-bitingly
good story...”
More distressing for Ellie is their first major case together — investigating the death of young Danny Solano (Nikolas Filipovic), the son of Ellie's close friends Beth (Virginia Kull: Boardwalk Empire) and Mark Solano (Michael Peña: End Of Watch) who's body was found on the sand at the foot of the cliffs. Danny was also a schoolfriend of her son Tom (Jack Irvine).

Danny's sister Chloe (Madalyn Horcher) is seeing bad boy Dean Iverson (Kendrick Sampson) and soon the pair come under investigation when drugs are found in her room that appear to link to Gemma Fisher (Sarah-Jane Potts), the attractive and flirty owner of the local Crestview Hotel.

Mark comes under suspicion when he lies to the investigating detectives and it becomes apparent that he and his best friend Vince Norvik (Stephen Louis Grush), who works with him in his plumbing business, have something to hide.

The Reverend Paul Coates (Kevin Rankin: Breaking Bad) has a history with Beth Solano that may have a bearing on the case and she turns to him when she feels guilty about the child she is expecting.

The return to Gracepoint of the reclusive, defensive and at first uncooperative Susan Wright (sympathetically played by Jacki Weaver), who cleans the holiday chalet where Danny is believed to have been killed. Her tragic and violent past throws up another couple of names to add to the growing list of suspects.

Ellie's credibility is compromised by her nephew Owen Burke (Kevin Zegers), a reporter on local newspaper The Gracepoint Journal, when he uses information accidentally leaked by his aunt. He becomes further involved when approached by Renee Clemons (Jessica Lucas), a journalist on the San Francisco Globe, who has unofficially come to cover the homicide investigations.

Ellie and Emmett also question Jack Reinhold (the ever-dependable Nick Nolte), a wildlife recorder who takes groups of youngsters out to a nature reserve and seems to have had a special relationship with Danny, and want to track down Lars Pierson (Brendan Fletcher), a backpacker who was seen with the youngster.

Ellie is distraught when Joe becomes implicated in the murder and she then discovers that Tom has attempted to delete emails and text messages from Danny, with whom he had fallen out shortly before his death.

With the appearance of telephone engineer Raymond Connelly (Adam Greydon Reid), who claims to be psychic and believes he is getting messages from Danny from beyond the grave, a grieving Beth is in torment as, despite her doubts, part of her wants to hear what he has to say.

Things become further complicated for Emmett, who is already fighting his own demons from his past, when he can no longer ignore a serious heart condition despite his dogged determination to see the Gracepoint case through.

Will Emmett and Ellie be able to put aside their differences and issues to support each other while sifting through evidence to try to track down the real murderer? And is an unexpected suicide more than it appears? Was Danny's killing planned to silence him = or could it have been a terrible accident?

With a large part of the community falling under suspicion and alibis not always checking out, the two detectives must work together to solve the case in a quiet town rocked by tragedy that can no longer hide its secrets.

Gracepoint is an intriguing, compelling, and complex drama; well constructed with thoroughly believable characters portrayed by a talented cast working cohesively together to tell a tragic story. The clues come thick and fast — but are they the right ones?

A clever move to bring the wonderful David Tennant back to the role he made his own and Jacki Weaver is terrific as Susan Wright, a part played by the wonderful Pauline Quirke in Broadchurch — a hard act to follow.

Gracepoint also features: Alison Down as Kathy Eaton, Editor of The Gracepoint Journal; Tom Butler as Chief of Detectives Terence Morgan; Linda Darlow as Mary Parnell; Darcy Laurie as Hugo Garcia; Scene of Crime Investigator; Karyn Mott as Detective Angela Schulz; Kristine Cofsky as Lana; Patrick Gilmour as Pete Lawson; William "Big Sleeps" Stewart as Frank; Connor De Pape as Baby Dylan; and Chloe Babcock as Julianne Carver.

Series Music by Marty Beller; Director of Photography is John Grillo; Created by Chris Chibnall and based on the original UK series Broadchurch; Series Writing Credits: Anya Epstein, Dan Futterman and Jason Kim. Executive Producers are: Chris Chibnall, John Goldwyn, Jane Featherstone, Carolyn G Bernstein, Anya Epstein and Dan Futterman. Produced by Arvi Liimatainin; Producer is Irene Burns; Consulting Producer is James Strong; Directed by James Strong, Euros Lyn, David Petrarca; Ali Selim and Michael Slovis.

* The eagerly-anticipated American adaptation of international phenomenon Broadchurch, Gracepoint now comes to DVD in the UK courtesy of RLJ Entertainment's Acorn Label. Certificate: 12 | Running Time: 432 Minutes Approximately on 3 Discs | Catalogue Number: AV3230 | RRP: £24.99.

Special Features: The Making of Gracepoint | Who Dunnit? | The Art of Visual Effects | Picture Gallery | Subtitles.

"Gracepoint is an intriguing, compelling and complex drama; well constructed with thoroughly believable characters portrayed by a talented cast working cohesively together to tell a tragic story" — Maggie Woods, MotorBar

"Perfectly paced, moody and magnificent" — People Magazine

"A well-paced, multilayered story" — NY Daily News

"Poignant, complex and frightening" — Wall St Journal