The penultimate Happy Valley consisted of three deeply important conversations. The first comes from an unlikely source. Several times throughout the course of the series, Ryan (Rhys Connah) has asked his family to be honest with him about what his dad subjected his...
Is Catherine in danger? Happy Valley’s fourth episode ratchets up the tension.
Last week, as Ryan was leaving his visit with his 'father', Tommy (James Norton) asked him how his bungee jump went. It felt like a glib throwaway question, especially when he proposed the idea of a father and son jump in a few years. Even Ryan (Rhys Connah) dismissed...
More pain in the Calder Valley as Happy Valley reaches its midpoint.
Happy Valley has always been Ryan's story. That's the main reason we had to wait such a long time for this final series. Sally Wainwright wanted to wait for Ryan (and the actor Rhys Connah) to be of age to tell the story she wanted. Following on from last week's...
Happy Valley’s third series proves well worth the wait.
ere were times when I worried the BBC had forgotten they'd commissioned a third series of Happy Valley. Sally Wainwright had busied herself with passion project Gentlemen Jack and started work on a new Disney+ series, The Ballad of Renegade Nell. It had seemed Happy...
The BBC at 100: 100 of its best shows.
This year the BBC turns 100. Fundamental to Britain and funded by licence fee payers, the BBC has garnered a worldwide reputation for quality. For this special post highlighting the highlights of the corporation's massive contribution to television, I've decided to...
First Look: Images from Happy Valley Series 3
The BBC has released new pictures from the third series of Sally Wainwright’s multi-BAFTA award-winning hit Happy Valley. The six-part series, starring Sarah Lancashire in her iconic role of Sergeant Catherine Cawood for the last time, is made by Lookout Point for BBC...
Happy Valley: How Sally Wainwright crafted the truly outstanding British drama.
Shockingly, I only watched Sally Wainwright’s Happy Valley for the first time earlier this year. As incredibly late to the party I was, I’m glad I amended this, as the BBC crime drama encapsulates everything I love about television. As it returns to our screens later...
Autumn 2022: The shows we’re really excited to see.
After a summer of sport, TV is getting its act together this autumn. Yes, the World Cup will disrupt things in November but the streamers have plenty to keep us non-footie fans occupied. Here are the shows we're looking forward to over the next few months. Minx...
Clocking Off offered a slice of British life that has never dated.
When Paul Abbott's Clocking Off debuted in January of 2000 the TV landscape looked entirely different. Abbott, who has since gone to success with his semi-autobiographical comedy-drama Shameless and his police drama No Offence, had been working in television for a...