WEST DORSET: Broadchurch stars have revealed how much they loved filming the second series of the smash hit ITV drama.

With the show gearing up for its return on Monday, January 5, at 9pm, its stars David Tennant and Olivia Colman spoke of the welcoming reception they received from residents while filming in West Bay.

Plot details are under wraps, but the tense drama is set to attract as much interest as the first series.

West Bay experienced a tourist boom called ‘the Broadchurch effect’ after its landscape was shown to an audience of more than 10million at its peak.

Dr Who star Tennant, resuming his role as DI Alec Hardy, said he ‘loved’ being back in West Bay.

He said: “A lot of people assume we film the whole thing in Dorset but of course we don’t.

“We film the beach scenes and anything to do with water down there. Everything else is in London for interiors and we also use locations around Bristol.

“But West Bay is the location that everyone recognises – the Jurassic cliffs still feature prominently in season two. We’ll see the police station again and other locations audiences have seen before.

“We always enjoy coming back here.”

Series creator and writer Chris Chibnall, who lives in Bridport, said the stand-out success of Broadchurch's first series – ITV’s highest rated drama of 2013 – was a ‘whirlwind’.

Olivia Colman won a BAFTA for her role as DS Ellie Miller.

She said going back to West Bay for series two was like ‘going back to a childhood holiday’.

“The people are incredibly nice considering we must turn it upside down for them but they welcomed us back,” she said.

This series sees Hollywood actress Charlotte Rampling and Oscar-nominated Marianne Jean-Baptiste join the cast.

Rampling said she was ‘inspired’ by the West Bay area.

“It was a really great experience to film there. I find it an extraordinary coastline, very inspiring country and a beautiful part of England.

“And we were lucky to be there over the hottest summer, everyone was so happy filming in West Bay – it was the best of times,” she said.

Secrets & Lies star Jean-Baptiste, who flew over from her LA home to film Broadchurch, praised Dorset’s natural beauty.

She said: “I did some drawing in West Bay, even brought my watercolours, which is harder, but the light is so gorgeous.

“It is one of the first things I noticed when I watched Broadchurch. I thought ‘where is this, it has got to be the south of France or somewhere, because the light is fantastic.’”

Another new cast member, Torchwood star Eve Myles, said she had never been to West Bay before and now plans to revisit.

She said: “I was spotting out places to take the children next summer. It's beautiful and the people were wonderful, so accommodating and so excited we were filming another series of Broadchurch down there.”

Trailers teasing the second series have become a regular fixture on ITV, with fleeting glimpses of the Jurassic Coast interspersed with a sound bite about ‘girls who disappeared’.