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Happy Valley (TV series)

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Happy Valley
Happy Valley title card
Genre
Created bySally Wainwright
Written bySally Wainwright
Directed by
Starring
Opening theme"Trouble Town" by Jake Bugg
Ending theme"Trouble Town"
ComposerBen Foster
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series3
No. of episodes18 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Nicola Shindler
  • Sally Wainwright
  • Matthew Read
  • Will Johnston
  • Faith Penhale
  • Rayan Salvi
  • Sarah Lancashire
Producers
  • Karen Lewis (series 1)
  • Juliet Charlesworth (series 2)
  • Jessica Taylor (series 3)
Production locationsCalder Valley
(Hebden Bridge, Sowerby Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Heptonstall, Todmorden, Halifax)
Running time60–70 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkBBC One
Release29 April 2014 (2014-04-29) –
5 February 2023 (2023-02-05)

Happy Valley is a British crime drama television series, set and filmed in the Calder Valley, West Yorkshire. Starring Sarah Lancashire, James Norton and Siobhan Finneran, it was written and created by Sally Wainwright and directed by Wainwright, Euros Lyn and Tim Fywell. The first series began on BBC One on 29 April 2014, the second on 9 February 2016, and the third and final series on 1 January 2023.[1] It won the 2015 BAFTA Award for Best Drama Series, and won another BAFTA for Best Drama for the second series.[2]

Premise

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Series 1

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In Halifax, West Yorkshire, Catherine Cawood is a divorced police sergeant with two children. She is still trying to recover from the suicide of her daughter, which had happened eight years previously. Catherine is raising her grandson, Ryan, who was born after her daughter was raped by Tommy Lee Royce. Just when it seems like Catherine is gaining control over her life, she discovers that Tommy, whom she holds responsible for her daughter's suicide, has been released from prison after serving time for other offences. Catherine becomes consumed by the idea of confronting him, unaware that Tommy is involved in a criminal organisation with the intention of kidnapping Anne Gallagher, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, for ransom.

Series 2

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18 months after the first series, Catherine is back at work and has been awarded the Queen's Police Medal (QPM) for gallantry, for rescuing Gallagher from Royce, who is serving a life sentence in prison. When Royce's mother is killed, Catherine is implicated in several murders. While trying to prove her innocence, Catherine is tasked with investigating a human trafficking operation linked to the serial killings. Meanwhile, senior HMET officers Detective Superintendent Andy Shepard and Detective Inspector Jodie Shackleton begin to suspect that the supposed fourth victim of the serial killer, Victoria Fleming, was murdered by someone else. Gradually, their investigation leads them toward Victoria's actual killer: police detective John Wadsworth, whom Fleming had been blackmailing. Catherine's grandson, Ryan, develops a friendship with a new teaching assistant, Miss Wealand, secretly a prison groupie infatuated with Royce. Royce, whom the court has forbidden from having contact with Ryan, uses Wealand to try to build a relationship with Ryan and get revenge on Catherine. Ryan increasingly concerns his family by asking questions about his father and even suggests Royce should be forgiven.

Series 3

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Taking place seven years after the events of the second series, Catherine is coming close to retirement age and has plans to go on a hiking expedition to the Himalayas. She is called to investigate the discovery of human remains found near a reservoir, where she comes to realise the murder suspects share a history with Royce, who has since been transferred to a jail in Sheffield and is awaiting trial for a string of unspecified offences. Meanwhile, Ryan, now 16 years old, has been keeping in touch with his father, having sent him a letter at the end of series two, and has been visiting him behind Catherine's back, with help from Catherine's sister Clare and Clare's new partner, Neil. When Catherine finds out, she temporarily blocks contact with the three of them and gives Ryan an ultimatum to stop visiting his father. Ryan is also having problems at school with his PE teacher, Rob Hepworth, who has kicked him off the football team following accusations of misconduct. At home, Hepworth is physically abusive towards his wife Joanna (Mollie Winnard), who has developed an addiction to prescription drugs and is receiving them illegally from her pharmacist, Faisal Bhatti, who in turn is being blackmailed by a gang of violent drug dealers, who are demanding money in exchange for not harming his family.

Episodes

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Main article: List of Happy Valley episodes
SeriesEpisodesOriginally airedAverage UK viewers
(millions)[3]
First airedLast aired
1629 April 2014 (2014-04-29)3 June 2014 (2014-06-03)8.19
269 February 2016 (2016-02-09)15 March 2016 (2016-03-15)9.36
361 January 2023 (2023-01-01)5 February 2023 (2023-02-05)9.16

Cast

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Main article: List of Happy Valley characters

Series 1

[edit]

Series 2

[edit]

Recurring

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Production

[edit]

On 22 November 2012, Ben Stephenson announced the commissioning of Happy Valley for BBC One. The programme was written by Sally Wainwright, produced by Karen Lewis, and directed by Euros Lyn, Sally Wainwright and Tim Fywell.[4][5]

Filming began in the Calder Valley in November 2013.[6][7] Locations in the area included Todmorden, Luddenden, Mytholmroyd, Bradford, Keighley, Sowerby Bridge, Hebden Bridge, and Heptonstall. Huddersfield, Halifax, Leeds and other West Yorkshire cities are mentioned, though not main filming locations. A former police station (Station Road, Sowerby Bridge) was used for some scenes, and additional filming took place at North Light Film Studios at Brookes Mill, Huddersfield.[8]

The name "Happy Valley" is what local police in the Calder Valley call the area because of its drug problem.[9]

In the first episode of series one, Ryan points out to Catherine, visiting her daughter Becky's grave in the next row, that visitors have left pens at Sylvia Plath's grave.

A second series was commissioned on 18 August 2014. Filming began in August 2015, and the first episode was broadcast on 9 February 2016.[10] The second series was written by Wainwright, produced by Lewis, and directed by Lyn and Wainwright.[11] Catherine's workplace is a former police station in Sowerby Bridge, and her home and local pub (two other main filming locations) are based in Hebden Bridge. The prison scenes were filmed at Oakham Enterprise Park in Rutland, which was HMP Ashwell until its closure.

The main character, Sergeant Cawood, is mentioned in the third episode of the fifth series of Last Tango in Halifax, which aired on BBC One on 9 March 2020. Wainwright also created and wrote this series, set in Halifax, and stars Sarah Lancashire.

In October 2020, Wainwright confirmed that there would be a third series and that she was in the "early stages" of writing it. Filming for the third series began in January 2022.

After watching the first three episodes of the season, Wainwright didn´t like some directorial choices made by Patrick Harkins and decided to reshoot some scenes herself, hence her credit as a director, but not co-director, on those episodes.[citation needed]

Reception

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The first episode aired on 29 April 2014 at 21:00, receiving 8.64 million viewers, as the second most watched show of the week (commencing 28 April 2014) for BBC One.[12] The BBC reported that the show received an average consolidated audience of 8.21 million viewers over six episodes and an additional 8.1 million requests for the show on BBC iPlayer.[13] Radio Times called Happy Valley a "word-of-mouth hit" which "steadily became a success outside the normal audience for the slot and channel."[14]

After episode one aired, Ofcom received four complaints under the category "violence and dangerous behaviour", but they did not pursue the matter.[15]

Reviews from the media have been overwhelmingly positive, and the show has received a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[16] On Metacritic, seasons one, two and three of the show received ratings of 83, 84 and 93, respectively.

However, some reviewers have criticised the show for its graphic content, especially in episodes three and four of season one, while others have noted the ubiquitous typecasting of male characters as either weak or criminals.[17]

In response to the criticism, Happy Valley's creator-writer, Wainwright, defended the show as "a quality, well-written drama" and stated, "Judging by the amount of email, texts, tweets I've had, I don't think anyone is asking me to apologise."[18] In an interview with the Radio Times, Wainwright said the level of violence had been carefully considered, and it was done responsibly, by showing the psychological and physical damage suffered by Catherine.[19]

Other critics have praised the show. Vicky Frost of The Guardian wrote: "To get hung up on the violence of this BBC1 kidnap drama misses the point. It is beautifully written by Sally Wainwright, draws an astonishing performance from Sarah Lancashire—and between them, they have created something truly unmissable."[20] Gerard O'Donovan of The Telegraph called Happy Valley "complex, thrilling and brilliantly written and acted", and "one of the best watches of 2014".[21] In September 2019, The Guardian ranked the show 11th on its list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century, calling it "a corrective to cliché-ridden and frequently blokey police procedurals", and one that "pulsated with poignant realness".[22]

The final episode of series 3, the final series, garnered much praise from critics. Lucy Mangan, writing for The Guardian, called the episode as "[b]rutal, tender, funny, compelling and heartbreaking"; Anita Singh, reviewing for The Daily Telegraph, rated the episode 5/5 stars and claimed, "Happy Valley sounds so bleak on paper, with its storylines about drugs, rape and murder. But at its core is the love that Cawood has for her family. Wainwright gave us what we wanted: a happy ending for a character who truly deserves it"; Peter Stanford writing in the Telegraph highlighted the various religious themes, with Cawood taking on "the appearance of a living saint" amidst the evil and misery of Happy Valley.[23] Positive reviews were also published by The Times[24] and I, who rated the episode 5/5 stars.[25]

After the final episode aired, Labour Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper promised to increase the number of community police officers by 13,000, citing Catherine Cawood as a positive influence for these officers.[26]

International

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Country Channel
Australia Stan, Binge, BBC First
Canada CBC Gem (series 1–2), Acorn TV/AMC+ (series 3)
Croatia HRT2
Czech Republic ČT1
Denmark DR
Estonia ETV
Finland Yle TV1
France Canal+
Germany WDR
Greece Cosmote Series
Iceland RUV
Ireland RTÉ
Netherlands Netflix, BBC First
New Zealand TVNZ
Norway NRK
Poland Ale Kino+
Portugal RTP1, RTP2
Sweden SVT1
Spain Movistar+
Belgium Netflix
India Netflix
Italy Sky Investigation
Korea Netflix
United States Netflix (series 1–2), Acorn TV/AMC+/BBC America (series 3)

Awards and nominations

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Series One

[edit]
Association Category Nominee(s) Result
BAFTA Television Awards Best Actress Sarah Lancashire Nominated
Best Supporting Actor James Norton Nominated
Best Drama Series Happy Valley Won
BAFTA Television Craft Awards Best Director: Fiction Euros Lyn Nominated
Best Writer: Drama Sally Wainwright Won
Banff Rockie Awards Best Procedural Drama Happy Valley Pending
Broadcast Awards Best Drama Series or Serial Happy Valley Won
Broadcasting Press Guild Awards Best Actress Sarah Lancashire Nominated
Best Drama Series Happy Valley Nominated
Breakthrough Award James Norton Nominated
Writer's Award Sally Wainwright Won
Crime Thriller Awards Best TV Drama Happy Valley Won
Best Leading Actor Steve Pemberton Nominated
Best Leading Actress Sarah Lancashire Nominated
Best Supporting Actor James Norton Won
Edgar Awards Best Episode in a TV Series Sally Wainwright ("Episode 1") Won[27]
Monte-Carlo Television Festival Best Drama Series Happy Valley Won[28]
Best Actress in a Drama Series Sarah Lancashire Won[28]
National Television Awards Best Drama Performance Sarah Lancashire Nominated[29]
RTS Programme Awards Best Actor (Female) Sarah Lancashire Won[30]
Best Drama Series Happy Valley Nominated[31]
Best Writer: Drama Sally Wainwright Nominated[31]
Best Editing: Drama Jamie Pearson Nominated[31]
RTS North-West Awards Best Single Drama or Drama Series Happy Valley Nominated
Best Performance in a Single Drama or Drama Series (Male) Steve Pemberton Nominated
Best Performance in a Single Drama or Drama Series (Female) Sarah Lancashire Won
Best Script Writer Sally Wainwright Nominated
Best Production (Craft) Red Production Company Nominated
Best Post-Production (Craft) 'production team' ("Episode 4") Nominated
Satellite Awards Best Mini-Series Made for Television Happy Valley Nominated[32]
Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Sarah Lancashire Nominated[32]
South Bank Sky Arts Awards Best TV Drama Happy Valley Pending
TV Choice Awards Best New Drama Happy Valley Won[33]
Best Actress Sarah Lancashire Won[33]
Writer's Guild of Great Britain Awards Best TV Drama – Long Form Sally Wainwright Won

Series Two

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Association Category Nominee(s) Result
BAFTA Television Awards Best Actress Sarah Lancashire Won
Best Supporting Actress Siobhan Finneran Nominated
Best Drama Series Happy Valley Won
BAFTA Television Craft Awards Best Writer: Drama Sally Wainwright Won
Broadcast Awards Best Drama Series or Serial Happy Valley Nominated
Broadcasting Press Guild Awards Best Actress Sarah Lancashire Nominated
Best Actor James Norton Nominated
Writer's Award Sally Wainwright Nominated
Irish Film & Television Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress in a Television Drama Charlie Murphy Won[34]
National Television Awards Best Drama Happy Valley Nominated
Best Drama Performance Sarah Lancashire Won
Peabody Awards Excellence in Entertainment Television Happy Valley Won
RTS Programme Awards Best Drama Series Happy Valley Won
Best Writer: Drama Sally Wainwright Won
RTS North-West Awards Best Single Drama or Drama Series Happy Valley Nominated
Best Performance in a Single Drama or Drama Series (Male) Kevin Doyle Won
Best Performance in a Single Drama or Drama Series (Female) Sarah Lancashire Won
Best Script Writer Sally Wainwright Nominated
Best Production (Craft) Red Production Company Won
Best Post-Production (Craft) 'production team' ("Episode 4") Nominated
Satellite Awards Best Actress in a Series, Drama/Genre Sarah Lancashire Nominated
South Bank Sky Arts Awards Best TV Drama Happy Valley Won
TV Choice Awards Best Drama Series Happy Valley Nominated
Best Actress Sarah Lancashire Won

Series Three

[edit]
Association Category Nominee(s) Result
BAFTA Television Awards Best Actress Sarah Lancashire Won
Best Supporting Actor Amit Shah Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Siobhan Finneran Nominated
Best Drama Series Happy Valley Nominated
Memorable Moment "Catherine Cawood and Tommy Lee Royce's final kitchen showdown" Won
BAFTA Television Craft Awards Best Writer: Drama Sally Wainwright Nominated
Best Editing: Fiction Joe Carey Nominated

Home media

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BBC Shop released Happy Valley series one on DVD, in regions two and four, on 16 June 2014. The DVD includes two discs, featuring 351 minutes' worth of footage, and has an age certificate of 15.[35] All six episodes of the series were released on iTunes, both in standard and high definition.[36]

On 20 August 2014, the series was further released on Netflix in Canada and the USA, marketed as a "Netflix Original".[37] However, it departed Netflix in March 2020.[38]

In the summer of 2016, series one of Happy Valley was released on Netflix in the UK and is currently repeated on the channel W. A year later, series two was released on Netflix in the UK.

On 26 October 2021, the first two series were released on AMC+ in Canada and the USA, coinciding with the announcement AMC+ would co-produce a third series with BBC One.[39] On 23 March 2023, AMC Networks announced the third series would premiere on 22 May 2023 on AMC+, Acorn TV and BBC America, with the first series being made available on Acorn TV that day, and the second on 3 April.[40]

References

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  1. ^ "The release date for Happy Valley season 3 has finally been confirmed". 2 December 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Bafta TV awards 2015: Winners in full". BBC. 10 May 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  3. ^ "Weekly top 30 programmes". BARB. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  4. ^ Eames, Tom (11 December 2013). "Sarah Lancashire, Steve Pemberton for BBC One thriller Happy Valley". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  5. ^ "Happy Valley – New drama for BBC One starring Sarah Lancashire and James Norton". BBC. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  6. ^ Rees, Caroline (3 November 2013). "Sally Wainwright: not the same old". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  7. ^ Bremner, Jade (11 December 2013). "Last Tango in Halifax actress Sarah Lancashire begins shooting new crime drama in Yorkshire". Radio Times. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  8. ^ "Creative England provides filming location and crew support to new BBC drama Happy Valley when filming in Yorkshire". Creative England. 29 April 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  9. ^ "Sarah Lancashire: 'Happy Valley is one of the hardest jobs I've had. It's brutal'". What's On TV. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  10. ^ "Happy Valley series 2 casting". BBC Media Centre. 21 August 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Happy Valley Series 2". BBC Media Centre. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  12. ^ "BARB – Weekly Top 10 (28 Apr 2014)". BARB. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  13. ^ "BBC One drama Happy Valley closes with 8.78m viewers". BBC. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  14. ^ Seale, Jack (3 June 2014). "Why Happy Valley is the drama of the year so far". Radio Times. Immediate Media Company Limited. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  15. ^ "Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin, Issue 254" (PDF). Ofcom. Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries. 19 May 2014. p. 68. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  16. ^ "Happy Valley: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes.
  17. ^ Kinchen, Rosie. "You can be a psycho or a drip . . . Happy Valley's a miserable place for men".
  18. ^ Brown, Maggie (25 May 2014). "Happy Valley writer: I don't have to apologise for show's violence". The Guardian/The Observer. Guardian News. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  19. ^ "Happy Valley writer Sally Wainwright – I've got plans for a second series". Radio Times. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  20. ^ Frost, Vicky (27 May 2014). "Have you been watching … Happy Valley". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  21. ^ O'Donovan, Gerard (27 May 2014). "Happy Valley, episode 5, review: 'exceptionally well crafted'". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  22. ^ "The 100 best TV shows of the 21st century". The Guardian. 16 September 2019. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019.
  23. ^ Stanford, Peter (7 February 2023). "How Happy Valley found God: redemption, forgiveness and the Devil". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  24. ^ Midgely, Carol (6 February 2023). "Happy Valley finale review: delightful turns and a shocking twist". The Times. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  25. ^ Sigee, Rachel (5 February 2023). "Happy Valley finale, BBC One, review: A heart-stopping triumph". I. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  26. ^ "Labour promises more community cops like Happy Valley's Catherine Cawood". The Independent. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  27. ^ "2015 Nominees and Winners". Edgar Awards. Archived from the original on 8 November 2015.
  28. ^ a b Keslassy, Elsa (18 June 2015). "'The Missing, 'Happy Valley', 'Gomorrah', 'Lilyhammer' Win Monte Carlo TV Fest's Kudos". Variety. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  29. ^ Jeffrey, Morgan (6 January 2015). "X Factor, Doctor Who, Sherlock nominated in National Television Awards". Digital Spy. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  30. ^ Hemley, Matthew (18 March 2015). "Sarah Lancashire and Tom Hollander win at Royal Television Society Programme Awards". The Stage. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  31. ^ a b c Walker-Arnott, Ellie (25 February 2015). "Peaky Blinders, Line of Duty and Happy Valley nominated for Royal Television Society awards". Radio Times. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  32. ^ a b "Current Nominees". International Press Academy. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  33. ^ a b Rigby, Sam (8 September 2014). "Sherlock, EastEnders lead winners at TVChoice Awards 2014". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  34. ^ "Amy Huberman and Mattress Mick were among the winners at tonight's IFTAs". Breakingnews.ie. 8 April 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  35. ^ "Happy Valley (DVD)". BBC Worldwide. British Broadcasting Company (BBC). Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  36. ^ "Happy Valley Series 1 – iTunes". Apple Inc. 2014. 29 April 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  37. ^ "Happy Valley to premiere exclusively on Netflix in the U.S. and Canada". Netflix. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  38. ^ "Every Netflix Original Removed from Netflix". What's on Netflix. 9 July 2021.
  39. ^ "BBC One's Happy Valley to return for a third and final series". BBC Media Centre. 26 October 2021.
  40. ^ "EXPLOSIVE FINAL SEASON OF THE CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED CRIME DRAMA HAPPY VALLEY PREMIERES MONDAY, MAY 22 ON ACORN TV, AMC+ AND BBC AMERICA". AMC Networks. 23 March 2023.
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