Haunted Landscapes in British Crime TV: Broadchurch and Happy Valley: Presentation of my PhD research

This presentation explores the concept of haunted landscapes in contemporary British crime TV series, focusing on Broadchurch and Happy Valley, and demonstrates how landscapes do more than serve as backdrops: they actively shape viewers’ emotions, convey collective anxiety, and reflect unresolved histories.Using a case-study approach, I present selected key shots from both series to show how landscapes operate as emotional and narrative agents. In Broadchurch, the open coastal cliffs and empty spaces evoke lingering trauma and melancholy, reflecting memory and loss even before the plot unfolds. In Happy Valley, enclosed, post-industrial valleys produce a grounded, persistent melancholy, emphasizing social realism and the weight of local history. Both types of landscapes are “haunted”, spaces where past events linger and continue to shape the present.The presentation distinguishes between setting, the space of action, and landscape, the visual and atmospheric presence that structures emotional experience. In both series, the camera repeatedly returns to key locations, giving these landscapes a narrative and affective significance that extends beyond the characters or plot.Finally, I situate this analysis within the broader context of British Nordic Noir and the transnational nature of contemporary crime drama, highlighting how local landscapes communicate wider social anxieties and questions of identity. By approaching landscape as a medium of memory and emotional resonance, this presentation demonstrates how British crime drama transforms places into expressive, haunted spaces that tell stories about contemporary society and national identity.