David Tennant's Broadchurch Had An American Remake With A Breaking Bad Star

David Tennant is one of those actors who subvert expectations regardless of which angle you approach him from. If the viewer thinks they know everything the actor has to offer after watching Tennant's dashing Tenth Doctor on "Doctor Who," he'll pivot into playing the devastatingly terrifying Kilgrave on "Jessica Jones."  "Okay, so he can do chilling villains, too," the viewer might think, just to witness Tennant transform into the world's most affable demon on "Good Omens." Watch "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," and see him as the slimy Barty Crouch Jr. — and then return to "Doctor Who" during its Disney+ era, only to see him play another incarnation of the Doctor. And that's not even going into Tennant's voice acting, which includes roles from Scrooge McDuck on the "DuckTales" reboot to ancient trainer droid Huyang in the "Star Wars" franchise. 

If there's one project where you can see Tennant at his most Tennant, though, look no further than "Broadchurch." The ITV crime drama ran from 2013 to 2017, and features Tennant and Olivia Colman (who's no slouch on the acting front herself) as the acerbic Detective Inspector Alec Hardy and the friendly but frustrated Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller. If you're unfamiliar with the moody, surprising, and nigh-oppressively bleak series, let's not discuss it further — you owe it to yourself to go in with as little knowledge as possible. 

If dipping a toe into British countryside murder mysteries isn't your thing, there's also an American remake available. Fox's "Gracepoint" also features Tennant (though his character's name is Americanized into Emmett Carver). However, Colman isn't a part of the remake. Instead, the role of Ellie Miller is played by none other than "Breaking Bad" star Anna Gunn.  

"Gracepoint" adapts the events of "Broadchurch" season 1 quite faithfully, which means that Gunn plays essentially the same role as Colman, right down to the name. The actress, who won two Emmys for her role as Skyler White, is an inspired replacement: After all, playing a strong woman whose life is upended by crimes that hit a little bit too close to her inner circle is the very thing Gunn for which won her awards. 

Unfortunately, "Gracepoint" lets both Tennant and Gunn down. Where "Broadchurch" is one of the best crime TV shows of all time, its American cousin is a faithful remake that just happens to turn every knob up to 11 and every nuance into a loud stereotype. To be fair, "Gracepoint" is not an awful show by any means, but "not bad" doesn't really cut it when the closest point of comparison is the sublime original version. As such, Tennant and Gunn's criminal investigations were cut short after the first season.