I just started watching The Survivors and the setting reminded me of another popular British crime drama starring David Tennant

The Survivors on Netflix is currently at one of the top spots in terms of streaming numbers, and its 100 % score on Rotten Tomatoes is also worth mentioning. So, I decided to hit the play button on it, and as of now, I am totally enjoying the crime thriller series (which, kind of, has a vibe similar to that of some of the weirdest and uncrackable Dateline cases).

However, after following the story closely and analyzing the entire setup, The Survivors totally reminded me of a popular 2013 crime drama starring David Tennant, Broadchurch. Both shows unravel in a coastal location where the mysterious murder of a teenager kicks off the main plot. Moreover, certain other elements have received a similar creative treatment in The Survivors and Broadchurch. Let's find out more about the two crime thrillers and what is common between them.

The latest Netflix crime thriller adaptation The Survivors is reiterating David Tennant's Broadchurch in a way

If you watched Broadchurch back in the day, you should definitely turn the pages to Netflix's latest thriller show, The Survivors. And as I feel, it will give a very similar vibe in a way.

The Survivors has been adapted from Jane Harper's famous book, and the story centers on a man named Kieran Elliott (played by Charlie Vickers) whose return to his coastal homeland, Evelyn Bay (somewhere in Tasmania), digs up a lot of bad memories - not to mention how a local teenage girl named Bronte is murdered right after his arrival.

As the story unravels, it is learned that Kieran was, in a way, responsible for the death of his brother and one of his close friends who went out to save him during a terrible cyclonic storm. Kieran luckily survived, but the other two did not make it back to the coast. However, another girl named Gabby went missing from the coast around the same time, but the case soon turned cold with no leads in the investigation.

After Kieran comes back to Evelyn Bay (more than a decade later) with his wife Mia and newborn daughter Audrey, Bronte's murder sends the whole town into a state of frenzy. With two new detectives in charge of Bronte's homicide, new mysteries start surfacing, and from what I have watched so far, her murder probably seems related to the disappearance of Gabby fifteen years ago.

Now, turning the clock back to a few years, I can clearly recall the time when I started watching Broadchurch. Produced by Richard Stokes alongside showrunner Chris Chibnall, the British crime drama has an equally good rating as that of The Survivors. The official synopsis of Broadchurch, per IMDb, reads:

"The murder of a young boy in a small coastal town brings a media frenzy, which threatens to tear the community apart."

The similar creative treatment that I perceived from the two shows is that both stories take place in a small coastal town with a laid-back life, one in Tasmania, Australia, and the other in Dorset, South West England. The two communities are quite peaceful, and life is not that fast-paced in either one of them.

Being a small town, everyone knows each other, and it's as if Evelyn Bay and Broadchurch (a fictitious town) feature two big families where the town folks are their members, very closely related. A major difference is that The Survivors starts with a backstory whose connection to the present is really pivotal.

Also, Broadchurch is more about how the detectives (portrayed by Olivia Colman and David Tennant) solve the case while they balance work with their personal struggles. But The Survivors revolves mostly around the town folk and their involvement in a decade-old murder, followed by a more recent homicide.

Broadchurch has more of a singular plot line, and the subsequent seasons are the culmination of what happens in the previous ones (The Survivors is a limited series). However, both towns are sent to pieces when a local boy/girl is murdered, leading to a full-fledged homicide investigation. I think Evelyn Bay and Broadchurch are both towns full of secrets, mysteries, and a lot of history. Even though it seems like life is carefree(either in Evelyn Bay or Broadchurch), the facades of happy lives do not last long.

I also feel that the creative direction of The Survivors and Broadchurch is kind of similar (though totally unintentional), with an overall gray tone and a background score that perfectly sets the thriller atmosphere. The ocean setting, in my opinion, adds another layer of mystery to both the series, and if you haven't watched Broadchurch yet (but have completed The Survivors), you should definitely give this popular David Tennant starrer a try.

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Also Read: The Survivors ending explained: The truth behind Bronte and Gabby's death comes out

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