Starring David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Vicky McClure and Jodie Whittaker, the eight-part drama launched in March and concluded last night. Over 9 million viewers have watched the drama unfold.

> Read our review of the finale.

Series 2 will begin filming next year, with details of the story and which characters will return remaining “tightly under wraps”.

ITV’s Director of Television, Peter Fincham, commented: “We’re delighted to be commissioning a second series of Broadchurch. From the moment the murder scene was discovered, viewers became gripped by the series, and we’ve been genuinely thrilled by the audience response.  David and Olivia’s performances and Chris’s cleverly crafted scripts have created a truly compelling drama.”

Creator and writer Chris Chibnall revealed: “When I first talked to Peter Fincham and Laura Mackie, ITV’s Director of Drama about Broadchurch, I mentioned that if people liked it, there was another very different story we could tell afterwards. I’m really thrilled we’re going to tell that story too.”

Executive producer, Jane Featherstone for Kudos Film and Television added: “It’s such a privilege for Kudos to be able to work with Chris and ITV to bring the next chapter of Broadchurch to our screens. And although we’re giving nothing away right now, I can tell you it’s going to keep on delivering surprises and scale.”

> Order Broadchurch on DVD on Amazon.

Chibnall told CultBox last month: “[Broadchurch is] not set up as a returning franchise, it’s an 8 part serial. It was devised as one story, that’s all I’m going to say. Nothing about it was devised as a big ITV returning banker.”

> Read our full interview with Chris Chibnall.

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