Happy Valley. God it’s dark isn’t it.

[ColinRobinsonsfamiliar]

Rewatching in readiness for the new series.
Its so dark isn’t it.
It’s like watching it through my fingers, revolted and horrified. It’s traumatic as a story line.
Such fantastic acting.

I didn't like the 2nd series half as much. Hated the prison stuff. Boring.

For me I wasn't bothered about James Norton 2nd time round. Just annoyed me.

Happy Valley is fantastic. Sarah Lancashire is phenomenal. So excited for the last series.

I watched this again recently and found the line about "burying him up on the moors where he can rot, undisturbed and unloved until the end of time" pretty distasteful given Keith Bennett was never found.

Title refers to the proliferation of drugs there.

Mostly just spending the day waiting for tonight!

Just binge watched it in readiness for tonight. I watched it when it first aired and then binge watched during Covid. So that’s three times and I still pick up bits I’d missed. The Keith Bennet thing jarred this time as of course there has been a recent futile search for him.

The acting is outstanding.

Best series ever - counting the hours until 9pm !
Sarah Lancashire deserves a BAFTA for this, surely ?

Did she win anything for it?

I’ve googled and yes she did.

For me, the hardest scene in series 1 was when Ann was dragging Catherine out of the house and panicking as she collapsed in the road, not knowing whether Royce might burst out of the doors. Literally on the edge of my seat.

But I loved the scene in the beginning of Season 2 where Catherine is describing the incident with the sheep and the dogs.

Absolutely. I refused to watch the Fall because of the horrific violence against women - I couldn’t give a shiny shit how amazing Gillian Anderson looked shimmying about in her silk shirts.

I find violence against women to be really lazy writing - however with Happy Valley, it’s worth pushing through because Sarah Lancashire is just so immense, she’s not breathless and hair flicky- she’s knackered, broken but never giving up. She raw and real

Yes to hating rape and violence against women being used for titillation but I don’t think that’s what happens here. Violence against women is a horrific reality and in Catherine we have a character who captures the rage, injustice and just fucking sheer exhaustion of it all. It’s more about the dogged and utterly brave response to that violence that I for one wish I could respond with. She’s an avenging angel.

can you tell I’m a fan?!

I watched the whole of series one today having only seen part of series two in the past and the first episode of series three the other night. Gripping, compelling viewing. Interesting to compare TLR and Kevin as characters. Sarah Lancashire is amazing, but then the whole thing has fantastic casting and performances. Great writing for female characters in particular.

Obsessed with HV (currently on season 2, first time viewer) and I just wanted to say how much I agree with this post. Wonderfully put!

James Norton is my number 1 for the new James Bond, fantastic, versatile actor.

It's so good. One of the best series I've ever seen. I couldn't sit down when TLR was beating her then finally Ann managed to break free.

I found Mare of Easttown quite similar (though set in America) and also excellent.

We've just rewatched both series in readiness for S3 and this really jars for me - Frances would never have been able to fake her way into that TA job, even using her dead sister's identity and qualifications, as she would not have been able to obtain an enhanced DBS clearance in that name.

Other than that, both series were as bloody brilliant as I remember.

Exactly what I said to DH! Also Clare and Daniel are far too super sleuth to be believable, connecting the dots quickly on issues relating to Ryan. Still an amazing series nevertheless but season 1 definitely trump season 2. We are waiting for all series 3 to be ready to binge before starting it!

I think I watch too much true crime, I loved HV but didn't find it particularly dark.

Oh I just adore it. It’s such a hard watch at times but so worth it. Superb writing and acting.

We rewatched again ready for S3. I still find TLR fit as fuck, despite his absolutely appalling character. Want to hate him, can’t completely. Just love it.

Mine too.
Easier on the eye than Daniel Craig too.

It’s such an incredible show. Sarah Lancashire and Siobhan Finneran are never anything less than brilliant but I do think this is the pinnacle of both of their careers. I always go back to that amazing scene of Catherine just yelling “WHAT A SHIT WEEK” at the top of her lungs!

“What a shit week” equates to “BORING!!” In killing Eve! Just AWSOME writing.

I tried to watch this ages ago, but couldn't get beyond the first couple of episodes. It might have been at the start of lockdown and it was too depressing to watch. A shame because I usually love series like this.