Broadchurch fever has struck with a vengeance in West Dorset as the final countdown begins to find the answer to the question: Who killed Danny Latimer?

And today the man who created the top-rating ITV drama series, which has put West Bay and Bridport in the spotlight and which is creating a tourism boom, writes exclusively for the Bridport News about the pressures of knowing whodunnit and to thank local people for their support.

Writer and executive producer Chris Chibnall, who has lived in Bridport for ten years, admits he has been offered bribes, drinks and threatened with headlocks to give up the secret.

And he pays tribute to people in West Bay who supported the filming last year and who have taken the show to their hearts - and he warns fans to have a box of tissues to hand when they watch the finale at 9pm next Monday.

Chris writes: “After the recent showing of The Shining at Burton Cliff Hotel, I walked back down into Burton Bradstock with friends and phoned Pat's Cabs (we'd had a couple of barman Lloyd's Shining-themed cocktails). The ever-friendly Stan answered and said, “Well, I'll try and get someone out there quickly, Chris - just tell me one thing. Who did it?”

"It's the phrase I've heard most these last few weeks: “Who did it?”, accompanied by “No, don't tell me!” and usually followed by “It's driving me mad!”.

"Very few people are privy to the ending. I've been offered bribes, threatened with headlocks, and been invited to the pub with the express intent of getting me drunk and hoping I'll blab what happens.

"For people to be so interested in a story I made up in my back garden in Bridport is thrilling and, ssh, a little bewildering. It's come as a lovely surprise to the whole Broadchurch team (and it really is a team effort, this show).

"We hoped people would watch it. We never expected it would capture people's imaginations in this way.

"The production's trump card is clearly the extraordinary Jurassic Coast. I hope we've captured the beauty, magic and mystery of the Dorset landscape.

"Via the Bridport News, I wanted to thank everyone who supported Broadchurch as it filmed last summer.

"Whoever arranged for the sunshine (so rare last year) during our first week of West Bay filming, I'm very grateful.

"We shut roads, put tape across the beach, blocked alleys and buildings, all in service of this story.

"People responded with patience, good humour and support.

"I hope we did a little bit to ease a difficult economic time for the area.

"The response has been equally wonderful as the show has transmitted: I've loved watching the posters change in the shop windows in West Bay each week.

"Now there's an ending coming. You will get answers. It may or may not be the ending you expect. But it's the one I had in mind from the start, and clues have been scattered throughout.

"The final episode is, as you would probably expect, an emotional rollercoaster. My advice: bring tissues. Hold a loved one close, and watch right to the end.

"Broadchurch has been quite a ride. Thank you to everyone here for being such a vital part of it.”