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Original poster

Happy Valley. I don’t get it

258 replies

BillyNighysWife · 05/02/2023 14:48

It seems everyone thinks Happy Valley is the best thing ever. I started watching series 1 recently to find out what all the fuss was about. I found it quite watchable but I really don’t think it’s great. It seems to be full of cliches about people. Despite its dark subject matter there is a cloying, mediocre English cosiness about it. Sarah Lancashire is good and as an older woman myself it’s great to see older women as main characters in big narratives. But there have been great, strong women in soaps for decades. What is special about her character and what she does in HV? I don’t get it.

It seems to be very similar to Mare of Easttown, except that was better.

Does anyone agree with me or am I on own with my strange opinion?

OP posts:
MichaelFabricantWig · 05/02/2023 15:18

Plaidparty · 05/02/2023 15:13

Everyone I know thinks the US one is miles better (including me!) I hated the U.K. one but could watch the US one on repeat.

Show quote history

I’ve never been a massive fan of either but most people I know say the same, they like the US one better

OneFrenchEgg · 05/02/2023 15:20

I thought it was cliched rubbish and got told on here I was wrong and it was amazing acting etc. I just can't watch it, and I love crime stuff. Currently watching something with Nesbitt in it set in NI which is watchable but a bit cliche in places.

TheChosenTwo · 05/02/2023 15:22

I’ve only just discovered it this week so very late to the party, binge watched the whole thing and looking forward to the last episode tonight. I’ve really enjoyed it but no one programme is going to be universally enjoyed which is why there are about a thousand channels and another hundred streaming services to choose from!
ps I hate the US office with a passion. Watched one episode and thought it was utter crap.

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TV
TheFretfulPorpentine · 05/02/2023 15:32

I think it's excellent and can't wait for tonight's episode to find out who dies in the inevitable bloodbath. I hope it's drippy Neil and that Catherine survives to enjoy her retirement.

toomuchlaundry · 05/02/2023 15:32

One word I wouldn’t attribute to Happy Valley is cosy

Tessisme · 05/02/2023 15:36

JaneJeffer · 05/02/2023 15:14

The US Office is way better. The English one gives me the cringe and I can't watch.

It's supposed to give you the cringe😅

Everyone likes different things OP. Personally I love Happy Valley, although I need the subtitles on as there is a fair bit of mumbling. I agree it's great that Sarah Lancashire, as a more mature woman, is the main character. But I certainly wouldn't be turning to soaps to find other examples of good older female characters. Again, personal taste and all that.

Original poster
BillyNighysWife · 05/02/2023 15:39

Happy Valley occupies a space that is normally filled with Sunday night easy watching. If you compare it to Midsommer Murders it is by no means cosy. But the things that people seem to feel are special about HV are pretty much cliches. You might not have seen them in Sunday night TV before but they have been done many times before, and better. Just because the main character is a middle aged woman with a complicated life and the setting is the north, doesn’t make it quality TV.

OP posts:
BellePeppa · 05/02/2023 15:43

KatherineJaneway · 05/02/2023 14:51

I don't get it either. But then anything called 'gritty,' is usually a huge pass for me.

Me too. My life’s had enough to contend with so nowadays if it isn’t either feel good or interesting (without being gritty) then I don’t watch.

iliveinhappyvalley · 05/02/2023 15:50

I live and work in Halifax and Hebden Bridge and can confirm that it is true to life! Similar area of work to Catherine and one woman I work with has been compared to Catherine not just by me. It's almost as if Catherine's character has been based on her. I absolutely love it and often see places in Calderdale that have been shown in the series. It is brilliant!!!

BorisJohnsonsHair · 05/02/2023 15:57

BillyNighysWife · 05/02/2023 15:03

@caffelattetogo interesting that Mare of Easttown is based on HV. That’s like the American The Office being better than the British one.

Which it isn't.

JaneJeffer · 05/02/2023 15:57

But I don't like the cringe @Tessisme so it makes me switch off!

IglesiasPiggl · 05/02/2023 15:57

I guess no programme is universally popular, there will always be someone to whom it doesn't appeal. Popularity is in my opinion partly down to timing and I think the very long gap between series 2 and 3, but all the same cast adds to the connection people feel with it.

JaneJeffer · 05/02/2023 15:58

You might not have seen them in Sunday night TV before but they have been done many times before, and better.
Some examples would be good.

HelenHywater · 05/02/2023 15:59

Is Mare of Easttown really based on Happy Valley? I never knew that.

I'm also late to the HV party - have binge watched it in the last 10 days, but do really enjoy it.

BorisJohnsonsHair · 05/02/2023 15:59

JaneJeffer · 05/02/2023 15:14

The US Office is way better. The English one gives me the cringe and I can't watch.

That's the whole point!

CakeIsNotAvailable · 05/02/2023 16:00

I enjoyed the first two seasons but am not enjoying the third much so far (I'm up to episode 3, so behind some of you). It doesn't feel very plausible. Prisoners' mail is screened - there is no way that Tommy Lee Royce would have been given letters from a child he'd tried to murder, at least not in the way shown. And I don't find the pharmacist character plausible at all. But I'm enjoying it enough to keep watching.

JaneJeffer · 05/02/2023 16:00

See my previous post re cringe @BorisJohnsonsHair

TonTonMacoute · 05/02/2023 16:01

I don't get it either. I tried to watch it when it first started, and have given a few gos since, but it still just doesn't grab me at all.

MissyB1 · 05/02/2023 16:02

Tried to like it but have given up. It’s depressing, very kitchen sink drama without being clever.
Each to their own.

SpongeBobJudgeyPants · 05/02/2023 16:03

KatherineJaneway · 05/02/2023 14:51

I don't get it either. But then anything called 'gritty,' is usually a huge pass for me.

This. Gritty IME normally means very depressing.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 05/02/2023 16:05

I love it. But there’s no way Catherine would have been allowed into Ryan’s school without an escort to the heads office and out again.

BorisJohnsonsHair · 05/02/2023 16:05

I have watched US remakes of many British shows and they always appear to be very much watered-down versions of the originals.

In fact, if there's a long, lingering shot of something that will later be important, DH and I always say "that's for the Americans". Not that the American audience is stupid, but their programme-makers appear to think they are.

See also US remakes of foreign-language films and TV series.

EyesOnThePies · 05/02/2023 16:09

It’s not a Cop / Crime show, it’s a family / personal drama. Stretched over a generation.

It doesn’t have to be to
everyone’s taste and not everyone has to be gripped, but just because you’re not doesn’t make it bad.

purpleme12 · 05/02/2023 16:13

Different strokes for different folks and all that.
I couldn't get into Line of Duty personally

Msgrieves · 05/02/2023 16:14

I haven't found the b plot this series very interesting tbh, but loved the previous 2. I live for gritty though and find feel good TV dull as fuck.

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