David Tennant admits the "expectation" for the return of ‘Broadchurch’ is huge.
The 43-year-old actor reprises his role as Detective Inspector Alec Hardy in the second series of the crime drama and he feels pressure for it to be well-received because of the unexpected TV hit the first series became.
He said: "We had the advantage in the first series that no-one cared – because nobody knew what was coming. This time, there’s expectation, which is always difficult to manage – but if that means we’re a victim of success, that’s a good thing."
The BAFTA-winning first series – written by Chris Chibnall – dealt with the death of 11-year-old boy Danny and the subsequent investigation to find his killer.
Tennant is glad the new story isn’t another whodunnit murder mystery, and admits it has been hard for him and his castmates to keep the storyline a secret.
Speaking to website Digital Spy, the former ‘Doctor Who’ star said: "The nature of a thriller is it’s more thrilling when you don’t know what’s coming next.
"Even when it was mooted that there might be a second series, none of us knew what that would quite be. It would have felt wrong to just do another body on another beach – that wouldn’t have felt like the same world. It would have felt too coincidental and it wouldn’t have serviced the magnitude of the events of the first series to do that.
"So all of us were at a loss as to what series two might be and even after Chris explained what his idea was, I still couldn’t quite picture it until I’d seen the script for episode one and then it suddenly made sense. From the end of act one, I was absolutely hooked again."
As well as Tennant, Olivia Coleman returns as Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller, Arthur Darvill as Reverend Paul Coates and Jodie Whittaker and Andrew Buchan as Danny’s grieving parents Beth and Mark Latimer.
‘Broadchurch’ series two starts on Monday (05.01.14) on ITV at 9pm.
David Tennant: Pressure is on for Broadchurch
