Without giving too much away I
have to say that this crime police drama is one of the best I’ve seen. Set in a
small Yorkshire town that is pretty but
far from perfect, and cynically referred to by the citizens as “Happy Valley”,
the writing and direction are top notch and the acting, well the acting is
superb. Some of the actors I’ve seen before here and there including the lead
Sarah Lancashire who plays a policewoman who at one time was also a detective
before taking a leave of absence from the force to mend her broken heart and
wounds. She is brilliant and this is one of the great performances I’ve
recently seen.
Catherine Cawood is a
strong woman who takes no crap from anyone but is also caring and giving as she
moves through her sometimes brutal days and nights. There is a daughter dead
from suicide that haunts her but I won’t go into details. She shares a cozy
cluttered house with her recovering alcoholic sister played by the great
Siobhan Finneran who many will recognize from her days on “Downton Abbey” where
she played the mean O’Brien. This is a totally different role for her. They
share the house with Catherine’s young, endearing but troubled and sometime
pain in the ass grandson, the child of her deceased daughter.
There is a
kidnapping which sets up the entire series and the lead villain is ghastly and
is played by James Norton who would go on to acclaim as the warm cuddly priest
on Grantchester, here he is evil, dastardly and scary. He is also beautiful and
sexy which adds to the mix and complicates our feelings. The series is written
and directed by Sally Wainwright who knows her stuff and brings a strong amount
of truth and dignity to all of his characters especially the women.
Also in the wonderful
cast is Kevin Doyle who many will also recognize from Downton Abbey, the
wonderful Katherine Kelly and the great Shirley Henderson who as usual is
moving and heartbreaking. You will notice that I’m using great and wonderful a
lot but I have no choice, that’s how great and wonderful this series it. The
accents are a bit strong and gave me some trouble here and there, but the show
is so reverting that I put up with it. This is one to see. Supposedly a 3
rd
season is planned.
