Happy Valley

I thought 'Scott & Bailey" to be extraordinary - and it is - but "Happy Valley" is gut wrenching, heart stopping, uncomfortable, and totally, totally brilliant. Firstly, nothing of quality can be created without a very good script, and Sally Wainwright's script is her best yet, and rivals her Scott & Bailey scripts. The dialogue crackles with its own rhythm, and sharp observations of modern life, while the emerging story is all at once shocking as it is at times ordinary.

Happy Valley is the name the police use to describe this neck of the woods, around Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire. Drugs, unemployment, and the resultant crime are part of everyday life. Within this mix, we meet Catherine Cawood, a policewoman (formerly a detective) played by Sarah Lancashire. At the risk of throwing too many superlatives into this review, I believe Ms Lancashire should win a BAFTA in 2015 for her portrayal of a dedicated, often jaded, but loyal and determined copper. I *believed* her character, through her heroics, as well as her anti-heroism. Her ambivalence towards her young grandson is uncomfortable to watch, but completely understandable. It would be too easy to say that Sarah Lancashire *is* the show, but that would be unfair to some of the other fine performers, such as James Norton, George Costigan, Siobhan Finneran, and a stellar performance from Steve Pemberton, whose character, Kevin, sets off the whole mess of events which kept me breathless for the 6 episodes.

The environment - around Hebden Bridge and Halifax, in West Yorkshire - is beautiful, and the buildings appear to have grown directly out of the landscape, and while this may be an ancient environment, the problems which occupy the police all belong in the modern world. I am really hoping there will be a Series 2.

I've only just realised what a great actress Sarah Lancashire is (I last saw her as a dizzy blonde in Coronation Street!). In the whole range of the Happy Valley character its the silences, those long lingering close-ups of her face as it conveys everything she doesn't have to say. One minute you feel sorry for the poor sod; next your laughing at the characters directness; next your almost in tears as she drives to hold herself together in the face of crippling memories. The story itself it terrific but sitting in the middle is Catherine Cawood, the dedicated, honest, seen-it-all-before, no-nonsense copper. The writer who opened the story with the confrontation with a smack-head allowed some cracking dialogue to kick the series off and show us the character we will grow to like and care for. The BAFTA's hers!

The most intense, well written, well acted crime series I've ever seen on television. For six weeks I've been hooked on a story that uses a police drama as a framework for the human emotions that are at the core of this fantastic series. Steve Pemberton (The League of Gentlemen, Inside No 9) as the self-interested accountant out of his depth when a kidnapping plot goes horribly wrong was brilliant and James Norton was easily one of the best psychopaths I've ever seen in a television drama. There was real depth to his character and I expect he was hated by viewers as much as Joffre in Game of Thrones nonsense police officer. But it was Sarah Lancashire's show all the way as the tough, no-nonsense, but damaged police officer. At first I thought this was going to go the way of the film Fargo, with it's kidnapping-gone-wrong scenario, but by the start of the second episode it was clear that it was going to take a different path. Be warned though, it's dark and unsettling with moments of sudden shocking violence, especially at the end of the fourth episode, where I was left shaking at the sheer intensity of it all. Better than anything American crime dramas have had to offer us over the past year, it was brilliant. Absolutely bloody brilliant!

The fact that Sgt Catherine Cawood is not a real person but a character played by an actress is completely 100% inconceivable. The portrayal is SO real in every aspect. It's real in every mannerism, in the shift between her persona as a private person and police officer, in the way she dresses, the way she wears her hair, her make up, the choices she makes and how she behaves. I've never seen a performance like it in my life. So extremely vulnerable, yet so extremely strong and when push comes to shove so extremely brave and tough. I for one would not want to cross her, for she would surely kick my behind severely, at the same time I sure would want her to talk to if ever I was victimized.

As for the series, both one and two, the plot squeezes the characters so hard that it's sometimes unwatchable because you relate so intensely to the psychological pressures their under, both the good guys and the bad.

An absolute must to watch!

I've been thoroughly enjoying this dark gritty drama. All the leads are excellent, but Sarah Lancashire as the main police officer with a tragic family history, is outstanding. It started well then just got better and better with each episode and twist of the plot (and screw) having me on the edge of my seat. I've just watched what must be the penultimate episode and it has left me physically shaking - it was that convincing and shocking. It's hard to credit the complaint of mumbling by one reviewer. I can't recall even one line of script I didn't follow and it's usually something that bugs me. I'm so glad I've watched this series, it's got to be one of (if not the) best TV dramas of 2014.