Happy Valley

Happy Valley......not for most of the residents! The BBC tend to (every now and then) come up with a block busting drama series. This one had (and has) me gripped to my seat from the start. Clever interaction between all the cast and 'Superb' acting on the part of every actor/actress including Corrie's Sarah Lancashire and Benidorm's Steve Pemberton. Great Yorkshire setting, the atmosphere oozes out of every brick & stone. Edge of the seat stuff, every episode ending in a cliff hanger.. Please let there be more BBC, you do have an awful habit of killing of great drama series just when everyone is hooked (e.g. Garrow's Law). Bring on season two please (writer) Sally Wainwright

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.

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 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.

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.