Happy Valley. I don’t get it

[BillyNighysWife]

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?

Does anyone agree with me

Nope.

I used to live in West Yorkshire and now live in South Yorkshire. Sarah Lancashire and Siobhan Finneran's acting is utterly brilliant. It doesn't even feel like acting. The scene in the cafe was just outstanding.

I can't wait until tonight.

OP what do you find "cosy" about it?

People like different things, big whoop.

That scene had me in tears because I could feel Catherine's pent up rage at what her sister's betrayal. It felt totally real to me.

Yes op you are so much better than all of us plebs who enjoy this turgid shit. Obviously you have so much more refined taste. Here's your medal xx

It felt totally real to me.

Exactly @CaptainMyCaptain. I felt like I was eavesdropping a conversation it was just so natural.

I actually think the scene in Series one when Anne is kidnapped is one of the most disturbing scenes I've seen in anything!

I know lots of nasty things happen and the aesthetic is ‘gritty’ but to me it wallows in cliches about salt of the earth Englishness.

I grew up where it was filmed and it's a very accurate depiction of that part of the world. Not cliched at all.

@Whyisitsososohard
Yes op you are so much better than all of us plebs who enjoy this turgid shit. Obviously you have so much more refined taste. Here's your medal xx

What a strange reaction. I definitely don’t think I am better than everyone else who enjoys HV! I haven’t read a novel in years and as I mentioned earlier in the thread I think that soaps have had great older female characters dealing with complex lives over the years. Because I am an avid watcher of soaps I don’t understand why people say the female characters in HV are refreshing or different. I think there is similar quality in much of what people consider to be low brow telly. I’m not saying I’d rather watch Strindberg at the NT!

Just because YOU don't like it doesn't mean it isn't quality TV.

It wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea - no program will ever appeal to everyone but the acting is first rate and there is absolutely nothing cosy about it. Death in Paradise is cosy, Midsummer Murders is cosy. Happy Valley is not - the title is derived from the high rates of drug use in area not a suggestion that it is a perma sunny place of joy.

I’m finding it really frustrating. It’s watchable and we’re only on season 2 but it’s not Dexter or anything like it where I feel obsessed. Why on earth did she go to Tommy’s mum’s funeral. Such poor judgement.

i hate the office and also hated the royale family.

Perhaps you haven't got far enough? It's pretty complex. People who are mostly good but a bit bad and occasionally stupid. People who are basically a bit greedy and selfish who allow appalling things to happen by not caring enough to stop it. People who are shallow. People who are really good but absolute arseholes...

It's great!

What aspects do you think are cliched OP?

Yeah people always act clueless when you call out their superior smugness. Of course you weren't implying you've got better taste than everyone. OK....

You are right op, you just don't get it.

I find it the opposite of clichéd. The characters are nuanced and very human. It even plays with stereotypes and gets you wondering about characters you'd otherwise think you'd summed up straight away.
Everyone has their own history; their own motivation and perspective.
Love it!

The acting is out of this world, especially Sarah Lancashire. It's not pretentious. I can relate to the way of life, the houses, etc, in a way I can't with most US series, e.g. The Watcher - who the hell needs a house that big for 4 people?? I love gritty.

I was beginning to think I was the only person not getting the hype around HV. I haven't watched any of s2 or 3. By the 3rd episode in s1 I just got bored with it all.

Is there something wrong with being British now?

I didn’t watch Happy Valley S1 or S2. Thought I’d check it out and see what the hype was and was hooked by episode 2 of season 1.
Sarah Lancashire is an outstanding actress and Siobhan Finneran too. I don’t get the cosy English clicheness you refer to at all but maybe that’s because I’m Irish.

Makes me want to visit Yorkshire.

I didn’t think Mare of Easttown was that great, I found it a bit meh and predictable.

And it goes without saying the US office is much much better than the British one.

Definitely don't be northern. It's too cosy.

This! The acting is brilliant and watching Catherine and Clare in the cafe actually brought chills to my spine , I saw Catherine’s heart break the acting was amazing

I think you’re perfectly entitled not to like it OP, sometimes a show just doesn’t gel with you or whatever and that is fine. But if you think it’s cosy, you haven’t been paying attention.

I love it, came to it late and it’s one of the best things I’ve seen for ages. TLR is genuinely chilling - I’ve worked with serious offenders for years and I’d much rather sit in a room alone with any of them than him.
The humour and communication styles are so typically Northern it just makes me smile.
The acting is brilliant and I’d be surprised if it doesn’t win any awards.
And as to the US office being better than the UK one - that’s a very confusing opinion. Same level of disappointment as the US version of ghosts.