Happy Valley Series 2

They made the point after 'Mosely's' girlfriend was found dead that it was the exact same brand of beer bottle that the serial killer had used to mutilate his victims which is why they tied her murder to the serial killer. Of course Mosely would know what the brand of beer bottle was used so presumably he deliberated got one , smashed it and used it on her..

Recording Grantchester to watch later on, but as the vicar is Tommy, it will be hard to forget the Happy Vallet character.
Why is Catherine always tired and ratty and red eyed?She must get a good night's sleep now and then.Will somebody please trim her fringe and do her roots as well.

Typo... valley!

She's sleeping in the conservatory with a woolly hat on her head to keep an eye on the Croatian neighbour and the girl she has staying there, and she gets woken up in the night to go out to cases which are not hers

Not that the fringe combined with the woolly hat enables her to see much at all, especially at night, let alone a neighbour inside her house iyswim

Sarah Lancashire is very good .

I think you should be able to subtitles for most dramas these days, so if there's lot of mumbling or strong accents they help a lot.

I'm not so sure she is good in this. As far as I saw she just spoke fast in a monotone while looking grumpy all the time. I might start another thread on the apparent enjoyment of viewing such cruelty and misery as entertainment.

To add to the reasons she's always tired and red eyed it's worth remembering that Catherine is also a woman of a certain age. I remember working full time when I was about her age, with grandchildren and their mum to look after, along with elderly parents and my own younger children still living at home. My working life also brought me into contact with many of the tragic themes covered in Happy Valley - all the women of a certain age I worked with looked and felt tired all the time. Our roots and fringes probably needed attention as well

She isn't a smart policewoman though. Could do with a hair brush and some clips. IMO.

Jane you are right, this series she is speaking so fast and in a monotone and looks grumpy the whole time.Her face is now so white and set that it resembles a plate of cold porridge.
She was not portayed quite this way in the first series, so it's all about direction, is it a new director?
Why is she now so ratty and tatty? She does her job, but her sister keeps house, cooks, and takes the boy to school.Her attitude to all and sundry is ridiculous [apart from the prostitutes, who she is very caring with.]
As a seasoned police officer she knows she has to have alibis, so all this attitude with senior officers is unbelievable.In fact, am wondering if I will bother watching any more, although the detective, John [footman from Downton] is a very good actor, as is the woman who plays Catherines sister.

She does seem to be on the edge of some sort of nervous breakdown, I agree, but is coping in the only way she knows how. The pressure is only going to get worse when she finds out more about how Creepy Woman has been questioning her grandson.

I do find the Molesworth sub-plot a bit unbelievable. What sort of man behaves like that to cover his tracks?

Especially if his wife has been having an affair as well, and has chucked him out of the house anyway!!

I would expect sister Claire to be the one who is grumpy, coming back to Miserable Valley after all that lovely sun in Benidorm.

And a police officer should look tidy and well-groomed, except when under cover.

I think it's excellent .

Nothing about it troubles me to be honest. I think they have Catherine's character, style , moodiness and the police force related matters just about right to be honest.
She's police seargent 'p--s--d off from the Calder Valley' .

I thought that 'bunny boiler' was connected to Claire's boyfriend and I guess PC Ann Gallagher will catch out the detective.

I can' t work out the farmers story line yet though, am I missing something.??? There must be a connection somewhere, is he the prostitutes murderer. What's the story behind him and his mother? Why bother putting their story into such a hard hitting story line to simply show tension between a farmer and her son and the local housing estate trouble makers?

Answers on a postcard please.

I did notice that there was a tangle of that blue rope in the back of his car when they showed a shot of it in the yard with the boot open. Could be something he uses for work of course, so perhaps just a red herring...

I get subtitles on my terrestrial tv but they lag behind, however I am getting used to the accent.
It is a violent story, (rather like reading the Daily Mail) I would not like to think of younger people watching it, however I think the whole thing is brilliant. It is very scary the way Tommy (?) is manipulating the girl. The actor is so good at portraying all his moods, his outburst at his mother's funeral, and his interactions with his girlfriend, his face shows his frustration, etc, with her. She, in turn is decidedly creepy and the most scary character.
Perhaps such programmes - this one, Night Porter etc should be on after 10pm - they would, I hope, be rated 15 at the cinema or am I living in a fantasy world?

Norton is a great actor, a relief to see him in Grantchester after Tommy!

It's nothing to do with the accent (am fine with that) it's the sound quality!
Wasn't the actress playing Frances (aka creepy girlfriend) in Hamish Macbeth as the love interest of Hamish ( although she was keener on him than he was on her.)She doesn't seem to have aged much.

Why do people keep calling The Night Manager 'the Night Porter'?

roses, Creepy Girlfriend is actually 50 - I googled her!

Really, Ana ? then it could be the same actress,she has worn well then.

Yes, she also played Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films.

Shirley Henderson (Creepy Frances) was in Hamish Macbeth and was Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films and Bridget Jones' best friend.

"you are right, this series she is speaking so fast and in a monotone and looks grumpy the whole time.Her face is now so white and set that it resembles a plate of cold porridge.

She was not portayed quite this way in the first series, so it's all about direction, is it a new director?"

I think Jane and Roses had this conversation and I agree.

It's a great series and I've enjoyed both but I think the director may have been going for some kind of authenticity by asking Sarah Lancaster to 'underact' and in doing so she just doesn't enunciate. The dialect/accent doesn't worry me. I am from the north but viewers are supposed to catch what the actors are saying.

I find it maddening that an actor mumbles. She hardly moves her lips either, and although I've re-run some of the scenes, catching exactly what Sarah Lancaster is saying is often totally impossible.It didn't happen in the first series.

I know it's meant to be grim ooop north but no characters laugh, smile, muck about, and the buildings looks grim and the weather is wet and murky. I think it's a great series but it really is dark, and I can understand why some people have given up on it.

Oh and the strangest conversation I've had recently was agreeing that James Norton is such a good looking rapist! It's just so wrong.

He is a superb actor, and a tasty one too.

He's not my type at all - hate big lips on a man!

I think I must be the only person on the planet who doesn't think James Norton is good looking or in the least bit sexy.

It's his lips.