Happy Valley (TV series) - Wikipedia

Happy Valley

(TV series)

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Happy Valley

Genre

Created by

Written by

Sally Wainwright

Directed

Sally Wainwright

Patrick Harkins

Fergus O'Brien

Starring

Rhys Connah

Opening

theme

" by

Ending

theme

"Trouble Town"

Composer

Country of

origin

United Kingdom

Original

language

English

No.

series

No.

episodes

(

)

Production

Executive

producers

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

locations

(

)

Running

time

60–70 minutes

Production

companies

(series

1–2)

(series 3)

Original release

Network

Release

29 April 2014

–

5 February 2023

Happy Valley

is a British

television series, set and filmed in

the

. Starring

and

, it was written and created by

and directed

by Wainwright,

and

. The first series began on

29 April 2014, the second on 9 February 2016, and the third and final series

on 1 January 2023.

It won the 2015

Award for

, and

won another BAFTA for Best Drama for the second series.

Premise

[

]

Series 1

[

]

, Catherine Cawood is a divorced

with two children. She is still trying to recover from the

of her

daughter, which had happened eight years previously. Catherine is raising her

daughter's son, Ryan, who was born after her daughter was

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

after serving time for other offences. Catherine

becomes consumed by the idea of confronting him, unaware that Tommy is

involved in a

organisation with the intention of kidnapping Anne

Gallagher, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, for

Series 2

[

]

18 months after the first series, Catherine is back at work and has been

awarded the

(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 Homicide and Major

Enquiry Team (HMET) officers Detective Superintendent Andy Shepard and

Detective Inspector Jodie Shackleton begin to suspect that the supposed fourth

victim of the

, 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 now 10-year-old grandson, Ryan, develops a friendship with a new

teaching assistant, Miss Drummond, secretly a prison groupie infatuated with

Royce. Royce, whom the court has forbidden from having contact with Ryan, uses

Drummond 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

[

]

Taking place six 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

. 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, 16-year-old

Ryan 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 (

), 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

[

]

Main article:

Series

Episodes

Originally released

Average UK viewers

(millions)

First released

Last released

29 April 2014

3 June 2014

8.19

9 February 2016

15 March 2016

9.36

1 January 2023

5 February 2023

9.16

Cast

[

]

Main article:

as Sgt Catherine Cawood

as Clare Cartwright

as Ann Gallagher

as Tommy Lee Royce

as Nevison Gallagher

Rhys Connah as Ryan Cawood

Series 1

[

]

as Kevin Weatherill

as Ashley Cowgill

as PC Kirsten McAskill

Series 2

[

]

as John Wadsworth

as Vicky Fleming

as Amanda Wadsworth

as Jodie Shackleton

as Andy Shephard

as Alison Garrs

as Neil Ackroyd

as Frances Drummond

as Sean Balmforth

as Mike Taylor

Recurring

[

]

as Joyce Metcalf

as Richard Cawood

as Kirsten McAskill

as Praveen Badal

Production

[

]

On 22 November 2012,

announced the commissioning of

Happy Valley

for BBC One. The programme was written

, produced by Karen Lewis, and directed by

, Sally Wainwright and

Filming began in the

in November 2013.

Locations in the area included

, and

and other

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.

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

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

'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.

The second series was written by Wainwright, produced by Lewis, and directed by Lyn and

Wainwright.

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

until its closure.

The main character, Sergeant Cawood, is mentioned in the third episode of the fifth series of

which aired on BBC One on 9 March 2020. Wainwright also created and wrote this series, set in Halifax and starring

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.

[

]

Reception

[

]

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.

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

called

Happy Valley

a "word-of-mouth hit" which "steadily became a success outside the normal

audience for the slot and channel."

After episode one aired,

received four complaints under the category "violence and dangerous behaviour", but

they did not pursue the matter.

Reviews from the media have been overwhelmingly positive, and the show has received a 100% rating on

, 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.

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."

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.

Other critics have praised the show. Vicky Frost of

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."

Gerard O'Donovan of

called

Happy Valley

"complex, thrilling and brilliantly written and acted", and "one of the best watches of

2014".

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".

The final episode of series 3, the final series, garnered much praise from critics. Lucy Mangan, writing for

, called the episode as "[b]rutal, tender, funny, compelling and heartbreaking"; Anita Singh, reviewing for

, 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.

Positive reviews were also published by

and

, who rated the episode 5/5 stars.

After the final episode aired, Labour Shadow Home Secretary

promised to increase the number of community

police officers by 13,000, citing Catherine Cawood as a positive influence for these officers.

International

[

]

Country

Channel

(series 1–2),

(series 3)

(series 1–2),

(series 3)

Awards and nominations

[

]

Series One

[

]

Association