This very good description makes it sound like a comedy, which it absolutely isn't, although I note that Olivia Colman got her break in dark comedy Peep Show.

It's so far from comedy that I couldn't make it through the series. When it comes up in conversation, I tend to describe it as "grief porn."

Ah, I should have made that clear, yes. We derived some unintended humor from the mismatch in cultural expectations, but Broadchurch is as serious as a heart attack.

(Didn't stop me and my wife from yelling MELLAR!! at each other across the house for weeks afterward.)*

*(He yells his partner Miller's name a lot in his Scottish accent.)