56 LISTENER FEBRUARY 29 2020
T
he B-word was
mentioned in the UK
in relation to new
thriller Deadwater Fell
(TVNZ OnDemand,
from Monday), but it was only
because it stars David Tennant.
The four-part series is noth-
ing like Broadchurch, other
than that it features a terrible
crime in a small community,
a number of possible suspects
and an overwhelming sense of
dread.
Tennant plays GP Tom
Kendrick, husband of Kate(Anna Madeley) and father of
their three girls. They live in
the remote Scottish village of
Kirkdarroch and are close to
their neighbours, Steve (Mat-
thew McNulty) and Jess (The
Good Fight’s Cush Jumbo).
Then, the unthinkable.
Tom is the only survivor of a
house fire that kills Kate and
the girls. It’s horrific. The grief
is unimaginable. And then
the questions begin. Suspicion
falls on Kate, who had been
depressed since her last baby,
then it turns to Tom, who hasbeen having an affair with Jess,
who has been struggling with
IVF ...
Writer Daisy Coulam, who
also created the 50s-era crime
series Grantchester, says one of
the main themes of the series
is “the relentless perfection-
ism we all struggle with in our
lives”.
“Many of us believe we
have to live this Instagram-
ready life. The reality is that
nobody’s life is that perfect.”
Coulam says she is drawn to
true-crime documentaries, butthat they usually give a sense
of the perpetrators, not the
victims.
“I wanted to understand
why some of these crimes
happen and to address the
importance of the victim as
the real person they are.”
In that respect, there are
some similarities between
Grantchester, that sleepy series
based on the books by James
Runcie about a sleuthing vicar,
and Deadwater Fell.
“I’m interested in crime not
just as a shocking act, but asBEHIND
THE
FAC ADE
Broadchurch star David Tennant
plays the cheating husband
and father of a family killed in a
suspicious fire. by entertainment editor FIONA RAE
Deadwater Fell, Monday.