AS hit drama Broadchurch returns to screens, Bolton actor Andrew Buchan reveals everyone from grandmothers to taxi drivers were keen to stop and chat as the first plot line gripped viewers.

The last series saw the murder of 11-year-old Danny Latimer rock the small Dorset town of Broadchurch, with many townspeople coming under suspicion, including his father Mark, played by 35-year-old Andrew.

After many twists and turns, the revelation of the killer’s identity had far-reaching consequences, not least for the two detectives investigating — Alec Hardy and Ellie Miller, played by David Tennant and Olivia Colman.

Andrew, who grew up in Lostock, said: "A lot of people on trains wanted to talk about the first series.

"Taxi drivers wanted to talk about it. Grans would come up to me at airports and say 'I knew it wasn't you', and squeeze my wrist.

"I wouldn't say it's changed anything work wise. I think directors are aware of the fact that I've done it, and are pleased that it's gone down well, but I think they still want me to prove myself."

Story details for the second series, which launched on ITV last night, have been kept tightly under wraps, making it one of the most hotly anticipated returning dramas of recent years.

He said that members of the public, friends and family, including former Bury Grammar School pupil Amy Nuttall — his actress wife who is pregnant with their first child — would ask him about the Broadchurch plot.

It was while a pupil at Rivington and Blackrod High School that Andrew first displayed a talent for performing before launching a successful career which has seen him appear in popular programmes including ITV's The Fixer and The Great Fire.

This series of Broadchurch sees a host of new faces joining the cast including Meera Syal, Charlotte Rampling, Eve Myles and Oscar-nominated Marianne Jean-Baptiste.

Andrew, who once worked at a pizza restaurant in Bolton, as a concierge at the De Vere Whites hotel in Horwich and as a Granada Studios tour guide, said: "All of them were exceptional.

"We were all quite giddy about them coming on board."

ITV’s highest rated drama of 2013, the final episode was watched by more than 10 million people and was the channel's most tweeted-about drama series since records began with 470,000 posts on Twitter.

Speaking of whether his missed the character of Mark Latimer when it was over and how he felt returning to the role, he said: "Yes and no. Mark's quite an angry individual. Quite stubborn and hot headed.

"I wouldn't say you miss crying every day, but as an actor you miss the challenge of it, you miss the other actors, you miss being involved in the tension of the story.

“It was always so hard to predict what might happen next. Returning to it carried with it the same feelings of anxiety and excitement as the first series.

"We'd all received the new episode one and it was brilliantly written. At the same time you can't help but feel slightly on edge — as usual with Broadchurch's writer Chris Chibnall you've no idea what lies ahead.

"Stepping back into the old house was very odd. It felt very empty and cold.

"Everywhere you looked there was a memory. Dorset is such a beautiful place to film. But even on bright, blue-sky days there's now almost a sense of impending doom."

Broadchurch is on ITV1 at 9pm on Mondays.