THE rapist in Broadchurch has finally been revealed as Leo Humphries and Michael Lucas.
After eight weeks of suspense and mystery, Trish Winterman – played by Coronation Street legend Julie Hesmondhalgh– was given justice when the man who brutally raped her was caught in the final ever episode of the ITV mystery drama.
Earlier in the episode, taxi driver Clive Lucas was arrested on suspicion of rape after his wife discovered his drawer full of taken belongings, that include Trish’s house keys.
A tense interview with Miller and Hardy saw Clive confess he stole from his passengers, and that’s why he had Trish’s keys. But the police revealed how his DNA was on the sock used to gag Trish during the rape.
After intense questioning and the evidence mounting, Clive revealed it was his son Michael who was with Leo Humphries on the night of the rape, and that Clive had merely picked them both up and driven them.
In a series of flashbacks, it was revealed how Leo had groomed Michael into becoming his rapist protege, and even pimped his own girlfriend out to him in his sick game.
He then took him to Cath’s 50th birthday party, before revealing his “party kit” – the bag of twine.
The pair then went outside where they overheard Trish arguing with her husband, and then Leo forced Michael into raping Trish as he sobbed.
Most Read in Showbiz
After being charged, Leo bragged about how “proud” he was to have raped and filmed the women he attacked.
In a disturbing twist, it then was suggested that DS Ellie Miller’s son had unwittingly seen the films Leo made and gave to Michael.
Trish was shocked that her rapist was just 16-years-old and struggled to understand how he could do it.
Meanwhile, Ed Burnett found a bag with the bloody-twine on his land and called it in and finally revealed what he had been hiding – he heard the rape take place.
“I heard her being raped,” he told them.
“I didn’t know what it was. I heard some sounds coming from the edge of the waterfall, I thought it was just drunk sex. I didn’t know what it was until later.
“I could have stopped it, I could have helped her.”
After reviewing the CCTV of Ed’s farm from when the bag was dumped, Miller discovered that it was footballer Leo Humphries who was responsible for the bag with the bloody twine being found.
Elsewhere, the Lattimers finally split up after Mark’s suicide attempt with Beth admitting things had been over since before their son was murdered.
“I have to go, I have to sort myself out for a while. It’s too difficult being here, I think that’s what’s done me in. Seeing you and the girls.
“I’ll be alright, I just need to put myself back together.”
As the episode came to an end, in front of the cliff that began it all, Miller and Hardy went on to continue their crime fighting, though it won’t be shown on-screen.
Writer and creator Chris Chibnall confirmed earlier this week that this episode was the last ever.
UNEVEN BUT GRIPPING DRAMA
By Ally Ross, Sun TV columnist
WELL you didn’t seriously think it was going to be Lenny “Ed” Henry, who raped Trish, did you?
Not on Broadchurch 3, a series so right-on it felt more like an eight-week telling-off than a drama.
In the end, it was the relatively anonymous Michael Lucas, stepson of Clive the shifty taxi driver, who finally admitted the rape.
Viewers were left in no doubt, though, that the real guilty party here was cocky fishing rope salesman Leo Humphries, who was “not what men are”, according to Det Insp Hardy.
“He’s an aberration” who’d groomed Michael and was charged with all the other unsolved rapes. Crime solved, however, the enduring mystery was how Broadchurch ever hooked an audience of ten million.
The acting was often as uneven as the casting, which asked you to believe Ed, Clive, Jim Atwood and Ian all had the hots for Trish.
And this, frankly, stretched its credibility well beyond breaking point. So you have to put down a lot of its success to the enduring appeal of a well-constructed whodunnit.
Whatever its many flaws, writer Chris Chibnall paced it perfectly, kept a nation guessing and tied up all of the knots in a gripping finale.
He did it so well, in fact, ITV will either have to replace it with a copycat or, after a decent length of time, bring it back. Keep an eye on ITV’s share price for clues.
Got a story? email digishowbiz@the-sun.co.uk or call us direct on 02077824220