He moved to Broadchurch 12 years ago to leave the death of his wife behind. Ed owns the local farm shop and employs Trish Winterman, Cath Atwood, and several other local women in his store.
He is portrayed by Lenny Henry and first appears in Series 3.
Ed seems to be easily irritated, especially by men, particularly Jim Atwood and Ian Winterman. On the other hand, he appears deeply concerned for Trish. He goes so far as to find her IVSA, Beth Latimer, and ask about her welfare.
When Cath reveals to Ed that Jim slept with Trish on the day of her rape, he goes on a rampage, attacking Jim in his auto shop. The police are involved and Ed is arrested. A police search reveals that it was Ed who sent Trish the anonymous flowers with the unsigned message 'Thinking of you' and that the produce sold in his shop is bound with the same twine that was used to tie up Trish. Further investigation has several witnesses state that Ed's car was seen parked at the end of Trish's street, overnight, for the last ten nights. Ed has taken thousands of pictures of Trish, seemingly without her knowledge or consent. He believes he is in love with her.
He later finds a bag of bloody twine behind his shop that he claims wasn't there before. The blood on it matches Trish's blood. After being questioned again, Ed says that on the night of Trish's assault, he heard the ongoing rape, and mistakenly assumed it was two consenting party goers. He is wrecked with guilt.
Relationships[]
Trish Winterman: His employee and a dear friend. Ed claims to love her and is deeply worried about her state following the assault.
Cath Atwood: Another employee. They seem to operate on a bickering sort friendliness, with Cath frequently annoyed by his intense approval of Trish. Ed sends Cath with dozens of food items and goods when she visits to check in on Trish.
Katie Hartford: His estranged daughter. Their relationship became strained when Ed left his dying wife. Even so, Katie comes to him to warn Ed that he is on the invite list, and therefore initial suspect list for the sexual assault of Trish Winterman.
Jim Atwood: He was reported to be in a fight with Jim on the night of the birthday party, likely because of Jim's behavior around Trish. When Ed is told that they slept together, he visits Jim in his garage and gives him a beating.
Ian Winterman: Another negative relationship, mostly based on Ian's callous treatment of Trish. When Ian is thrown out of his girlfriend's place, Ed refuses to rent him a caravan on the basis that he deserves everything he gets for mistreating Trish.