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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:
FirstnameSuesecondnamePerb · 06/02/2023 08:47

Haven't watched it yet but the beeb has well known form for going for 1,2, or 3 series too many, way beyond the story that needed to be told

lollipoprainbow · 06/02/2023 08:55

Just started watching after hearing all about it everywhere ! Absolutely love it.

VioletaDelValle · 06/02/2023 08:58

lollipoprainbow · 06/02/2023 08:55

Just started watching after hearing all about it everywhere ! Absolutely love it.

Ooooh you're in for treat!!

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

TV
picklemewalnuts · 06/02/2023 08:59

That scene between him and her, wow. Talk about emotional swings and roundabouts. And the sisters' resolution. So low key. Just 😘

RampantIvy · 06/02/2023 10:27

FirstnameSuesecondnamePerb · 06/02/2023 08:47

Haven't watched it yet but the beeb has well known form for going for 1,2, or 3 series too many, way beyond the story that needed to be told

Not in this case. Ignore the disdainful critics who think they know more about the area than the posters who actually live there.

WhereIsMumHiding3 · 06/02/2023 12:05

Happy Valley 1 and 2 were super
Fabulous acting, story lines and edge of the seat stuff. It's along the lines of Line of Duty when it was good (series 1-3)

I don't find it a cliche and is sad that others have found it so

Haven't yet watched HV3 am saving it for a rainy Sunday and I read a spoiler so I know what happens at the end 😱

Sarah Lancashire is a wonderful actress /actor as are the supporting cast Siobhan Finneran and James Norton

newnamethanks · 06/02/2023 12:14

Try At Home With the Braithwaites TarasHarp. Also Sally Wainwright and not grim.

anexcellentwoman · 06/02/2023 12:14

I think one of the important messages about series 3 is that people are not totally good or totally evil but they are flawed. Tommy Lee Royce is a bad man but you can kind of see that it is his upbringing that has made him that way. Like many viewers I felt sorry for him by the end.
The show also clearly gives the message that nurture is more important than nature. Ryan, son of TLR is a nice man. It is such a positive message.

RampantIvy · 06/02/2023 12:43

Oh, I loved At Home With the Braithwaites @newnamethanks.

I agree @anexcellentwoman. Conversely, it shows how a dysfunctional upbrining can be so damaging.

I think some posters can't differentiate between a programme they don't like and a programme that isn't well writtern, well produced and well acted.

I like Midsomer Murders, Father Brown and Death in Paradise. They aren't of the same quality as HV, but are enjoyable nonetheless.

eighteenthirteen1 · 06/02/2023 13:22

newnamethanks · 06/02/2023 12:14

Try At Home With the Braithwaites TarasHarp. Also Sally Wainwright and not grim.

But don't watch the last series it's shite

purpleme12 · 06/02/2023 13:38

newnamethanks · 06/02/2023 12:14

Try At Home With the Braithwaites TarasHarp. Also Sally Wainwright and not grim.

God I have good memories of this!
It's so completely out there but we really enjoyed watching it all those years ago!

Calphurnia88 · 06/02/2023 13:48

I thought S1 and S2 were really good but I've struggled with S3. Too slow.

luckylavender · 06/02/2023 13:55

BillyNighysWife · 05/02/2023 14:56

I watched Mare of Easttown and thought it was great. That was really similar, a middle aged female cop with a complicated personal life investigating murder, secrets etc in a small town. I don’t mind gritty at all. It just has to be well done.

I think HV is superb. Hated Mare of Easttown.

Deadringer · 06/02/2023 16:13

I loved both Mare of Easttown and Happy Valley, loved the u.s. office but hated the UK one, different strokes and all that.

OoooohMatron · 06/02/2023 16:14

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 kind of the point!

DesertIslandCondiment · 06/02/2023 16:17

JaneJeffer · 05/02/2023 15:14

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

I love the original English version. I'm a huge Ricky Gervias fan though.

DesertIslandCondiment · 06/02/2023 16:19

OoooohMatron · 06/02/2023 16:14

That's kind of the point!

Show quote history

Yes. It's the same as when people say Alan Partridge is cringy. Erm, yes he is. hilariously so.

DesertIslandCondiment · 06/02/2023 16:22

99victoria · 05/02/2023 20:36

Yes, love the American Office - rewatched it 3 times over the years. The English version was good but the characters weren't so well formed I felt

Show quote history

What?

maranella · 06/02/2023 16:24

I watched S1 of HV and thought it was quite good, but tried S2 and thought it was clichéd and unwatchable. I haven't bothered with S3.

JaneJeffer · 06/02/2023 16:24

I'm also cringing at how many people are telling me that's the point 😬

BitOutOfPractice · 06/02/2023 16:24

I thought the ending was silly. The setting on fire just looked like the kind of stunt you see in wild west shows at Universal Studios. I thought it was really lame.

As for the northern thing, I do think it was laid on with a trowel.

Made me think of

Sorry I think Series 3 has been weaker than the other two.

DesertIslandCondiment · 06/02/2023 16:26

JaneJeffer · 06/02/2023 16:24

I'm also cringing at how many people are telling me that's the point 😬

Why?

OoooohMatron · 06/02/2023 16:28

JaneJeffer · 06/02/2023 16:24

I'm also cringing at how many people are telling me that's the point 😬

Doesn't take much to make you cringe does it!

JaneJeffer · 06/02/2023 16:29

@DesertIslandCondiment because I already know and have now been told by at least three different posters

RampantIvy · 06/02/2023 16:29

BitOutOfPractice · 06/02/2023 16:24

I thought the ending was silly. The setting on fire just looked like the kind of stunt you see in wild west shows at Universal Studios. I thought it was really lame.

As for the northern thing, I do think it was laid on with a trowel.

Made me think of

Sorry I think Series 3 has been weaker than the other two.

What part of the UK do you live in?
I live in Yorkshire and I can assure you the characters were not caricatures. I know lots of people like that.

Sorry if it offends you that Yorkshire folk were being, well, Yorkshire folk.