Sarah Lancashire

[Thewinterofillness]

I’m just blown away by her acting, why hasn’t she got more recognition?
Addicted to Happy valley, the writing and acting is superb

SL did an Alan Bennett "Talking Heads" and I couldn't;t watch that - it was horrible - but it was the topic (incest) which made me feel physically sick, rather than her acting.

many of the women who started off in Coronation Street have gone on to do very well, (eg) Suranne Jones

I loved surname Jones in "Scott and Bailey" (and Corrie!) but feel lukewarm towards her in there stuff, but she's certainly done well for herself, and good luck to her.

OP she was also excellent in The Paradise.

Best line from a TV drama in 2022 was when Julia was demonstrating how to cook a dish and emphasised the importance of adding garlic.
'Cooking without garlic is like going to bed with a German,' she said without missing a beat.

I completely agree. Coleman is always still partly Coleman. But Sarah Lancashire is just the character, whether it's the headmistress in Last Tango or the policewoman in Happy Valley

I used to see SL shopping regularly in our local Tescos, I think she must have moved away now. She very much had her head down and just got on with it

I disagree with people about Olivia Colman and Judy Dench - I think they are both absolutely excellent. Watch Dench in Macbeth or, indeed, any Shakespeare, to say nothing of things like Philomena, Notes on a Scandal, The Shipping News - you'll never again claim that "it's always her, playing at acting".

You can sign up for Now TV Entertainment for a month at a time for £9.99. Plenty of time to watch Julia (which is totally worth it for SL and Niles and Lilith). You can cancel immediately and your membership will run for the rest of your month.

Oddly enough Anne Reid started inCoronation Street too as the first Mrs Ken Barlow. Ooh I'm going back a bit now.....

BBC Radio 4 profile of SL. 15 minute listen
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001gjy1

She's very well-spoken in RL

Please can more be said about Siobhan Finneran? I love her! She was so horrible to people in Downton, I used to love watching her with Thomas. Then in Benidorm and so many other things she’s done.

Siobhan’a reactions in that scene and how she continued to eat that sandwich, trying to appeal to Sarah Lancashire, she was amazing in such an understated way.

I think she seems like a lovely person as well 😊

Interesting. I can't watch her. To me, she's always Raquel from Coronation Street.

Judi Dench's Lady Macbeth was haunting. That despairing wail . . .

Agree - I love Siobhan Finneran, too - and she and SL are perfect foils in Happy Valley.

I love Sarah's explanation of Miss Audrey

I agree re Siobhan.

I had no idea she had been in Rita, Sue and Bob too, in a starring role as she looked so different when she popped up as Janice Garvey in Benidorm.

She done Well for Herself and good on Her.

I'm surprised so many people are only just watching Happy Valley as it's always been well rated.
Sarah Lancashire is magnificent. The script of course helps but the way she delivers it is truly amazing. I think there's some snobbery because of the Yorkshire settings and accents though to me they add to the appeal. It's the area where my mum grew up and is beautiful.
I watched Last Tango in Halifax during lockdown because she was in it and while it's a gentler tale the quality is up there.
I've been ill this week and have saved this episode to watch tonight. I guessed the denoument in the cafe would be great (although I hoped there was a mistake and Claire was innocent).

Am going against the grain here but I thought the cafe scene was weak and the actresses did the best they could with a rubbish script. It’s suffering the fate of several excellent dramas where writers under pressure to do the next one have to invent totally unbelievable scenarios to move the story on. It was so unbelievable that her sister would collude in that deception and her justification was stupid and not in line with her character so far. James Norton deserves equal recognition too for not making Royce a cartoon monster.

And Lesley Manville is another great.

No, it's been well publicised that Sally Wainwright wasn't under pressure at all.

She had the ideas for series 3 years ago and deliberately waited for this timing (and gap).

I just idly started watching Last Tango in Halifax - oh it looks good. I'm going to try and get dh to watch it.

I find it quite funny when people declare that they know a character and they wouldn’t do x. Nobody knows these characters better than the person who created them, has lived with them, entertained their thoughts and motivations, for almost a decade. But, oh no, ‘I’ know better, ‘I’ do.

I remember seeing a Motherland thread and people were saying it can’t have been Ann as Head of Global Development at Glaxo. It must have been Meg. God help us, and also, simply not seeing how jokes work.

Nobody knows these characters better than the person who created them, has lived with them, entertained their thoughts and motivations, for almost a decade. But, oh no, ‘I’ know better, ‘I’ do.

That’s one interpretation. Another is that the writer has made a character behave in a way that viewers find hard to believe or understand. It’s surely possible that writers sometimes ‘jump the shark’. I’m not a writer, but I would imagine that writers want their characters to be believable.

I absolutely love her, she is superb. Even her walk in HV is in character. Just a total "don't fuck with me" walk. My work is in Calderdale and I keep shouting stuff like "holy shit that's Tescos in Brighouse!"

I think one of the reasons HV is so captivating is that every season there’s someone who isn’t a complete “baddie” - SPOILERS - someone being blackmailed to the point of murder etc. It’s almost like you can imagine yourself in that situation and whether you’d be pushed that far. And that’s partly what makes it so realistic because it makes you question your own morals etc. Not saying I would murder anyone (😆) but I think we can all appreciate how someone could be really pushed to the brink.

The posters who feel that SL inhabits the part have hit the nail on the head.
I get put off a lot of prime time dramas because of the obvious acting...both SL and SF convince and I forget them in other roles when I'm watching.
I also love the knitwear, just what would be worn in a chilly climate in the North, to me anyway. The interior of both of the sisters' houses too, both convince, slightly " arty" and mismatched, cosy and lived in... bit like mine and I can identify!

'It’s almost like you can imagine yourself in that situation and whether you’d be pushed that far'

That's so true. I don't find all of the storyline with Faisal the pharmacist that convincing, but in the scenes with the gangster brother, you can really feel his panic, and the sense of the waters closing over his head. It does make you wonder what the hell you would do in that desperate situation