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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:
BitOutOfPractice · 06/02/2023 16:36

If not offended, don't be daft! I just don't think it was done subtly, laid on with a trowel as I say. I'm sorry if someone disagreeing about a drama on the telly offends you! It's not a reflection on you, or Yorkshire, or people from Yorkshire. I just didn't like this particular portrayal, if that's OK.

BitOutOfPractice · 06/02/2023 16:40

And as it happens, I think telly is very often terrible at portraying regions in general. They always overdo it.

RampantIvy · 06/02/2023 16:47

I just didn't like this particular portrayal, if that's OK.

Oh right. Seriously though, a lot of Yorkshire people really are like that. We live in an unglamorous part of Yorkshire where the greeting is "ey up", and people really do say that Grin

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VioletaDelValle · 06/02/2023 16:49

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

Northern people....stop being so, erm, northern! Tone it down a bit eh? People think we're tekking t'piss.

VioletaDelValle · 06/02/2023 16:52

BitOutOfPractice · 06/02/2023 16:40

And as it happens, I think telly is very often terrible at portraying regions in general. They always overdo it.

But this wasn't overdone at all! It was so accurate.
That is how we speak....'ey up' and 'how do' are how I greet my friends and relatives!

RampantIvy · 06/02/2023 16:53

I don't think people believe us @VioletaDelValle.
I am actually a displaced Londoner, but have been oop north longer than in London.

BitOutOfPractice · 06/02/2023 16:54

That's not what I was saying at all - good grief! I'm not criticising you personally. I'm saying I, me, just myself, thought it was not very well done. Is that OK? To disagree?

I tend to hate stuff set in my region too as they don't even do us the courtesy of casting actors from there so their accents, to add insult to injury, are usually dreadful which at least wasn't the case in HV.

BitOutOfPractice · 06/02/2023 16:56

The accents were great. Loved them. (I especially loved the 'ta ta' that Catherine and Ryan exchanged in this last episode). It was all the 'northern salt of the earth' trope that I thought was a bit OTT. But you know, just my opinion, feel free to ignore!

VioletaDelValle · 06/02/2023 17:00

RampantIvy · 06/02/2023 16:53

I don't think people believe us @VioletaDelValle.
I am actually a displaced Londoner, but have been oop north longer than in London.

I think you're right!
I grew up where some of the 'rougher' scenes were filmed and have seen police enter a property using an 'Ovenden Front Door Key' (genius bit of writing btw) a number times.

The drugs and the gangs are definitely a thing, Halifax's proximity to Bradford, Oldham, Manchester etc mean that County Lines crime is a real issue.

And we do really talk like that! it was so bloody accurate I'm in awe of all involved.

BitOutOfPractice · 06/02/2023 17:04

Yes of course I think (and know from living there) that that is how people speak, and that there are rough places in Yorkshire. I'm obviously not explaining what I mean very well because none of that was what I had a problem with.

VioletaDelValle · 06/02/2023 17:04

Of course you can not like it, but that's not really what you're saying.

Your issue is with the accuracy of how people from that particular region were portrayed, when people who live there are telling you it was VERY accurate.

That's just odd!!

eighteenthirteen1 · 06/02/2023 17:08

BitOutOfPractice · 06/02/2023 16:54

That's not what I was saying at all - good grief! I'm not criticising you personally. I'm saying I, me, just myself, thought it was not very well done. Is that OK? To disagree?

I tend to hate stuff set in my region too as they don't even do us the courtesy of casting actors from there so their accents, to add insult to injury, are usually dreadful which at least wasn't the case in HV.

So you're saying it wasn't done well, and keep disagreeing with actual people from the region saying that's actually how it is, whilst not being from the region yourself 👍🏻

BitOutOfPractice · 06/02/2023 17:10

It wasn't even individual characters, it was just all a bit much. Not accents, or places as such - just the whole northern trope that was much more of a background to the story on S1 and 2 and but in your face from first to last in S3 so it almost became a caricature of itself.

As I say, just my opinion, glad you liked it anyway!

BitOutOfPractice · 06/02/2023 17:14

|I didn't realise you weren't allowed an opinion on a drama if you weren't born within a 10 mile radius of the setting! 😆

BaronessEllarawrosaurus · 06/02/2023 17:18

I'm from that general area and there's one or 2 things that I know were taken from real life but probably felt like they were too much. I've also lived in areas of Lancashire and can say that if you live far enough west the people are completely different. East Lancashire that borders calderdale is a world away from somewhere like Preston. To me the show was true to life and well done.

RampantIvy · 06/02/2023 17:18

The drugs and the gangs are definitely a thing, Halifax's proximity to Bradford, Oldham, Manchester etc mean that County Lines crime is a real issue.

We have a problem with county lines here in South Yorkshire as we are close to the West Yorkshre and Greater Manchester borders. The police just turn a blind eye to weed as it is so prevalent. They do shut down weed factories though.

VioletaDelValle · 06/02/2023 17:18

just the whole northern trope that was much more of a background to the story on S1 and 2 and but in your face from first to last in S3 so it almost became a caricature of itself.

I'll go back to my earlier point...Northerners, stop being so bloody northern!

Redebs · 06/02/2023 17:21

I love how the last episode brought out so many themes that had been started earlier.
The immaturity and vulnerability in masculinity
Strong women
Self-immolation
Alison's son as a product of rape vs Catherine's grandson as a product of rape ...

BitOutOfPractice · 06/02/2023 17:24

You're a touchy bunch aren't you? You wouldn't last five minutes with my universally loathed accent I tell ya! 😀You know that's not what I'm saying at all! I'll shut up though as you seem determined to wilfully misunderstand me!

ethelredonagoodday · 06/02/2023 17:29

Loved the show and thought the portrayal of the area and people was fairly accurate. I worked in Calderdale for a little while, but have also lived somewhere similar. Of course there are a broad range of people, not everyone is a 'caricature northerner' but the reality is that those supposed stereotypes are founded on real people and places. In the village where I live now, people say hello as you walk down the road, chat in the pub etc etc. it wouldn't necessarily be like that in the city, but is definitely friendly!

VioletaDelValle · 06/02/2023 17:32

BitOutOfPractice · 06/02/2023 17:24

You're a touchy bunch aren't you? You wouldn't last five minutes with my universally loathed accent I tell ya! 😀You know that's not what I'm saying at all! I'll shut up though as you seem determined to wilfully misunderstand me!

I genuinely don't understand what you are saying if it's not that you found it a caricature and not an accurate representation of the area.
What else are you trying to say??!

Aurorabored · 06/02/2023 17:35

I don’t find it ‘cosy’ or ‘cloying’. I think that it feels genuine. I recognise Sarah Lancashire’s character. I know so many women like that in my family.

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 06/02/2023 17:37

Despite living only 15 fr

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 06/02/2023 17:38

Despite living only 15 miles fr

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 06/02/2023 17:43

Despite living only 15 miles from Halifax, I've never watched Happy Valley. I'm not really into cop dramas. I'm off sick today (Covid caught me after all this time) and have just binged the first season.

I realise I'm very late to the part, but

I ♥️ Catherine Cawood !

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