Happy Valley

This was not a show that I expected to be blown away with, although I am a long term fan of Sarah Lancashire, and with Sally Wainwright involved I should have expected it to be good.

This is beyond good, if you don't get hooked and wanting more after the first episode you probably should not be watching.

There are so many good things to say about this show that I run out of words, but one word that sums up how I feel is gob-smacked.

Having watched 4 out of the 6 episodes so far, I have to say that it has been quite a while since I wished that the days would speed by so I can get my mitts on the next episode.

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!

I cannot praise this series enough. It has an air of realism about it from its location to the main actors. The lead sergeant Catherine Cawood and her sister are so ordinary, preoccupied with ordinary things, (no trendy,smarmy,clever middle class media interpretations of what ordinary people speak like dialog). Without exception every character is believable. With master classes in acting from the lead, her sister, her grandson and Tommy the maniac. The criminals are believably cruel and stupid in measure. The damaged and unfortunate are portrayed realistically but with compassion. No left wing idealism or right wing coldness that usually invades these type of program. The setting is the bleakest place I've ever seen, a beautiful English valley shrouded in mist, dampness and high rises. The streets and buildings are claustrophobic. Most of all the story is credible, consistent and finely paced. raw emotions are not avoided and dysfunction is everywhere. And yet there's something noble in sergeant Catherine Cawood.

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!

I expected something slow paced, in the vein of The Killing. Not at all, but it's absorbing and tense from the start, very mainstream-accessible, and always intriguing. The acting from all involved is pretty excellent, especially Sarah Lancashire. An amazing performance, one that I hope gets serious awards recognition next year. I ultimately liked this more than I expected to, it's easy to get caught up in its plot and I also think that it does a great job moving it along at a surprisingly fast pace while also having some fantastic character moments. At times it gets a bit too over-the-top in its melodrama, but it never actually fails to emotionally hit home. I'm super ecstatic that it's coming back for a second season.