The return of Broadchurch has been welcomed with opened arms by fans across social media, many of whom have been busy heralding last night's start of the final series of the detective drama, which stars David Tennant and Olivia Colman.
Fans heaped praise on the show's central duo, along with new cast member Julie Hesmondhalgh, who plays a victim of rape and has quickly become the central figure in the series three mystery.
Wow. David Tennant and Olivia Colman are phenomenal but Julie Hesmondhalgh was out of this world 😱 what an episode! #Broadchurch
Say it every series but Olivia Coleman in #broadchurch 👏🏼👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/TL9PZLpRwy
me @ all the actors in #broadchurch pic.twitter.com/nimnvjKDMB
#broadchurch is so wonderfully crafted. How can a setting so breathtakingly beautiful be used for something so utterly dark. Gripping TV 👌
Julie Hesmondhalgh has had me in tears already. The subtlety in her unspoken moments is everything #broadchurch #itv @BroadchurchTV
There were others who couldn't resist some easy Broadchurch-related comedy…
Is that the bloke off the Premier Inn adverts? #Broadchurch
watching #Broadchurch & trying to pinpoint the bad guy and looking at every character like pic.twitter.com/g5kSCAp0jj
And more who went a lot darker with the jokes in relation to Hesmondhalgh's former on-screen Corrie husband Roy Cropper.
….and Roy's on the run #broadchurch pic.twitter.com/L9cS5gJ9B6
But the episode received much of its praise for its sensitive portrayal of the early stages of a rape investigation, with the aftermath of Trish's attack being played with well-researched care. The Telegraph's Michael Hogan called the episode's opening act "more like a docudrama than pure fiction."
I was a detective on a sexual offences unit. #broadchurch was as close to real as I've seen on TV as to how such cases are handled. @ITV
Ten minutes in and this is already unbearably harrowing. Credit to #broadchurch for depicting sexual assault so sensitively.
Beautifully handled! Such a sensitive approach. Raising awareness is the greatest thing an actor/actress can do. Bravo 👏💕#broadchurch
As well as the crippling realisation that episode two isn't on until next Monday…
When you realise you have to wait a whole week for the next episode #broadchurch pic.twitter.com/9QBVKykjHP