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

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 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.

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.