Happy Valley, BBC
To read certain sections of the media, and speak to certain TV buffs, you’d think that Sally Wainwright and Sarah Lancashire weren’t allowed to be criticised. There’s no doubt that the two of them hit upon an incredible formula with Happy Valley.
Wainwright’s writing is sophisticated and in three series she has managed to merge everyday Britishness with authentic crime and high drama – no mean feat. Sarah Lancashire is the perfect vehicle through which to tell these stories. She is a northern stalwart: someone who can love and fight with equal ferocity. To be honest, the two of them don’t strike me as people in need of gushing praise. When Ryan tells Cathy in this latest series that he loves her, she says: “What’s brought that on?” For that reason… we should be honest and admit that Series Three was probably the weakest series of Happy Valley.
One of the biggest flaws in this final series was the detatched second story. Faisal the pharmacist (Amit Shah)’s story bore minimal consequences for our main characters and was wrapped up abruptly. The way that Cathy solved that crime in omnipotent fashion, happening upon someone else who bought drugs from Faisal, felt like too much of a convenient afterthought that also contributed to her feeling godlike, rather than the gritty and dogged protagonist we came to love.
None of this is to say that Series Three wasn’t littered with its own iconic moments. Cathy finding Claire (Siobhan Finneran) in Sheffield and phoning her as she stood behind her back was gripping TV. The stylistic decision to directly pick up from the last scene of each episode and lead into the one that followed was also a masterstroke and contributed to ramping up the drama as the series progressed.
Tommy escaping from the courtroom was, similarly, a brilliant TV moment. Could someone do that? Who cares. It felt real enough to keep us wrapped up in the moment.
From the moment he was out in the world, we knew that things were only leading in one direction – to Cathy and Tommy having their final showdown. This did unfold in an unexpected way. Instead of a fight, a struggle, or an action set piece, Tommy was magnanimous – he forgave Cathy. It was an original twist but their final conversation gave the sense that there was too much to tie up in the history of this programme, that it could never be rendered in a fully satisfying way. The psychology of the twisted psychopath didn’t gratifyingly marry with the man who cried as he looked at photos of his ex-girlfriend.
Happy Valley has established itself as the benchmark of British TV. But maybe, by now, it is slightly tired.
