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Happy Valley has become Britain’s version of The Wire Happy Valley has become Britain’s version of The Wire
(6 months later)
Fans of the TV show Happy Valley who live in the US have, over the past few weeks, had to take a few bothersome but more or less legal steps in order to watch season two, which concludes on the BBC next week and has, as with the first season, been monstrously good – the best thing on TV on either side of the Atlantic.Fans of the TV show Happy Valley who live in the US have, over the past few weeks, had to take a few bothersome but more or less legal steps in order to watch season two, which concludes on the BBC next week and has, as with the first season, been monstrously good – the best thing on TV on either side of the Atlantic.
Related: Happy Valley review: understated, refreshing – and with bodies already piling up
This should come as no surprise given that Sally Wainwright, the show’s creator, has been responsible for what feels like every British hit save for Downton Abbey in the past few years: Last Tango in Halifax, which also played well in the US; and the crime drama Scott and Bailey.This should come as no surprise given that Sally Wainwright, the show’s creator, has been responsible for what feels like every British hit save for Downton Abbey in the past few years: Last Tango in Halifax, which also played well in the US; and the crime drama Scott and Bailey.
She should be mentioned in the same breath as Matthew Weiner or Aaron Sorkin or Shonda Rhimes or Jenji Kohan, or Ryan Murphy, who is a terrible writer but still signed a reported $24m development deal with Fox a few years ago, because that’s how the US treats star showrunners.She should be mentioned in the same breath as Matthew Weiner or Aaron Sorkin or Shonda Rhimes or Jenji Kohan, or Ryan Murphy, who is a terrible writer but still signed a reported $24m development deal with Fox a few years ago, because that’s how the US treats star showrunners.
Wainwright, meanwhile, only won her first Bafta in 2013 and was turned down by ITV a few years ago for a second season of Unforgiven, her three-part drama that was as good as everything else she writes. Well done, chaps!Wainwright, meanwhile, only won her first Bafta in 2013 and was turned down by ITV a few years ago for a second season of Unforgiven, her three-part drama that was as good as everything else she writes. Well done, chaps!
Compared to Happy Valley, even Broadchurch looks thin and phoneyCompared to Happy Valley, even Broadchurch looks thin and phoney
One of the reasons for Wainwright’s success in the US is that, perversely, she isn’t courting it. Americans I know who love Happy Valley do so because it is a window into another world, just as British viewers felt transported while watching The Wire. It’s a quality that draws attention to the inferiority-complex under which so many British dramas labour – the fake American gloss of Luther, say, or Line of Duty. Compared to Happy Valley, even Broadchurch looks thin and phoney.One of the reasons for Wainwright’s success in the US is that, perversely, she isn’t courting it. Americans I know who love Happy Valley do so because it is a window into another world, just as British viewers felt transported while watching The Wire. It’s a quality that draws attention to the inferiority-complex under which so many British dramas labour – the fake American gloss of Luther, say, or Line of Duty. Compared to Happy Valley, even Broadchurch looks thin and phoney.
The show’s success is also, of course, down to a superlative cast – Sarah Lancashire is, at this point, inching into Dame Judi territory – and a lot of great writing. A tiny example: two women parting company after a night out and one says to the other, “text me as soon you get in”, which is a thing women say to each other in real life and not on TV, unless one of them is about to be murdered by the cab driver.The show’s success is also, of course, down to a superlative cast – Sarah Lancashire is, at this point, inching into Dame Judi territory – and a lot of great writing. A tiny example: two women parting company after a night out and one says to the other, “text me as soon you get in”, which is a thing women say to each other in real life and not on TV, unless one of them is about to be murdered by the cab driver.
And the scene between Catherine and the therapist, which in lesser hands might have been played for laughs but was instead real, awkward and fraught with moral complexity.And the scene between Catherine and the therapist, which in lesser hands might have been played for laughs but was instead real, awkward and fraught with moral complexity.
I’m sure Wainwright does very nicely indeed, but, looking across the international TV landscape, it’s hard not to feel she isn’t getting her dues. If David Simon gets a 10,000-word profile in the Paris Review, so too should Wainwright.I’m sure Wainwright does very nicely indeed, but, looking across the international TV landscape, it’s hard not to feel she isn’t getting her dues. If David Simon gets a 10,000-word profile in the Paris Review, so too should Wainwright.
Buttie-liciousButtie-licious
With one episode left, I asked American friends how they were coping with the Yorkshire accents. Most said they’d gotten the hang of “’appen I did” and “us” as a possessive pronoun, as in “Us dad died when we were tiny.” But there was still a lot of confusion. I ask a friend to have a stab at, “down at cafe that does us butties”, and he said: “Something to do with his ass?”With one episode left, I asked American friends how they were coping with the Yorkshire accents. Most said they’d gotten the hang of “’appen I did” and “us” as a possessive pronoun, as in “Us dad died when we were tiny.” But there was still a lot of confusion. I ask a friend to have a stab at, “down at cafe that does us butties”, and he said: “Something to do with his ass?”
“Whose arse?”“Whose arse?”
He looked panicked. “I don’t know. I heard the word butt.”He looked panicked. “I don’t know. I heard the word butt.”
“It’s about a sandwich.”“It’s about a sandwich.”
“OK, I’m not getting sandwich.”“OK, I’m not getting sandwich.”
“What about ‘Up Ripponden’?”“What about ‘Up Ripponden’?”
I then had him pronounce “Sowerby Bridge” over and over, which was better comedy than anything I’ve seen for a long time.I then had him pronounce “Sowerby Bridge” over and over, which was better comedy than anything I’ve seen for a long time.
Jolly good, FellowesJolly good, Fellowes
Related: ‘We don’t have to have completely happy endings at Downton Abbey’
This week was the Downton finale in the US. A few months ago I heard Julian Fellowes interviewed by an American journalist, who asked him: “Where are you in the hierarchy?” To which, after a long pause, he replied: “I came, I suppose, from the sort of bottom of the top. We didn’t have much money, my grandfather was a younger son.”This week was the Downton finale in the US. A few months ago I heard Julian Fellowes interviewed by an American journalist, who asked him: “Where are you in the hierarchy?” To which, after a long pause, he replied: “I came, I suppose, from the sort of bottom of the top. We didn’t have much money, my grandfather was a younger son.”
There followed more caveats, no little pain at the vulgarity of having to articulate all this, and a final assessment of his family’s aristocratic position as a “minor one, but in the books”. Great drama.There followed more caveats, no little pain at the vulgarity of having to articulate all this, and a final assessment of his family’s aristocratic position as a “minor one, but in the books”. Great drama.