Happy Valley

Glorianny

Chestnut

Glorianny

The Knezevics were people traffickers and involved in prostitution, not just drug dealing. I don't think Darius would be charged with anything. Tommy's statement to Catherine wouldn't count as evidence.

I was hoping Catherine had switched her 'voice record' on before entering the room, then everything he said would have been recorded as a dying confession.

Don't think even that would count, remember Tommy had confessed to the killing and was in court for sentencing when he escaped.
So I think technically the case would be closed.
One of the reasons I dislike the ending so much.
Everything dependant on Catherine.

I did think the forensic team at the teacher's house would have uncovered evidence of someone accessing the garden from the rear lane that the pharmacist used.

He only put gloves on after he was in the house. He’d opened the back door without wearing gloves.

VB000

I have a confession to make - today is the first time I read this thread, as I'd never watched a single episode. Started watching them all, from the very first series, in the last 2 weeks, and was gripped. Finished last night - Wow!

Loved the script, loved the acting and the ending was as good as it gets with these dramas.

I was an avid fan of Line of Duty but felt the ending was a let down. At least with Happy Valley, I didn't have to cope with acronyms! As a southerner, I was able to follow the dialogue ok, but in some places it was a bit quiet.

I can't imagine Catherine setting off on a road trip without Ryan, (though she might?!) but maybe some Gransnetters can think of some spin-off series ideas... Callistemon??

p.s. I said the same about the crocheted blanket to DH - what a shame!

Me too. I think I might have watched some of series one as it looked familiar but I might have found it too gruesome. I can watch violence in fantasy stuff like Game of Thrones but not so much with contemporary stuff. I’m also not very good with crime series as I get confused over the plot lines. But it resulted in me being the position of being able to binge watch all three series having avoided any spoilers ( other than the fact that I knew she’d survive the first series!) I thought it was brilliant. I’d go from hating a character to feeling sorry for them and back to hating them again. It crossed my mind when Happy Valley first started ( even though I didn’t watch it back then ) that British crime drama learned a lot from Scandi dramas like The Killing and upped its game. There has to be something special about a series that has you on the edge of your seat, laughing and crying all in the space of one episode.

Ryan joins the police 👮‍♂️ after he finishes exams

I can't imagine Catherine setting off on a road trip without Ryan, (though she might?!) but maybe some Gransnetters can think of some spin-off series ideas... Callistemon??

😁
Ryan will stay on at school to do his A levels but I can't imagine many teenagers wanting to go backpacking with their Granny!
Although Catherine isn't like most Grannies I know.

VBOOO. Ryan has to do his GCSE’s. He’ll stay with auntie Claire. Catherine will be able to process the traumas, meet interesting people, see glorious places and hopefully, the ptsd that has her seeing Becky in such devastating clarity, will fade. A happy ending 🌞

Sunday nights wont be the same without HV.
The Gold is aiming to fill the gap. Not a fan of heists but may give it a try as the review states it looks at wider social issues and questions why white collar crime doesnt get the same weight as those committed under balaclavas.

I have a confession to make - today is the first time I read this thread, as I'd never watched a single episode. Started watching them all, from the very first series, in the last 2 weeks, and was gripped. Finished last night - Wow!

Loved the script, loved the acting and the ending was as good as it gets with these dramas.

I was an avid fan of Line of Duty but felt the ending was a let down. At least with Happy Valley, I didn't have to cope with acronyms! As a southerner, I was able to follow the dialogue ok, but in some places it was a bit quiet.

I can't imagine Catherine setting off on a road trip without Ryan, (though she might?!) but maybe some Gransnetters can think of some spin-off series ideas... Callistemon??

p.s. I said the same about the crocheted blanket to DH - what a shame!

I've started watching the first series again, I'd pretty much forgotten a lot of it. It was quite heartbreaking seeing the young Ryan, often in some sort of trouble at school and very much wanting to have a relationship with his granddad Catherine steadfastly having taken over the mother role whilst trying to gently coerce her ex into reconsidering his stance on rejecting Ryan due to the unfortunate circumstances of his birth. I realise I'd never heard of James Norton before this and am thinking that Happy Valley probably launched his acting career. I certainly didn't regard him as a heart throb then, he was just too nasty for words and maybe it was the dyed blonde hair, but in spite of his horrific nature, in the final series he certainly had that certain something. Maybe we're all too familiar with him in other roles that have mitigated the badness of Tommy Lee Royce and before he set himself on fire he did display a submerged vulnerable side.

As usual the cracking one liner from Catherine to her sister "sorry I think I may have scorched your crochet blanket"

Callistemon21

It was far more multi-layered and consequently much more interesting and full of tension than if there had been a lot of police, car chases, tasers, guns and a cornered Tommy blubbering in the street and being taken back to prison.

It was Catherine and Tommy's episode.

I think a shoot-out would have been too simplistic, disappointing and a cop-out.
(Excuse the pun.)

Good points

Callistemon21

Iam64

I didn’t see the final as saying all the police except Catherine were portrayed as hopeless idiots. The super was excellent throughout. The uniform gang kept to their feet the minute Catherine was heard.
Her maverick approach was a theme throughout. Recent events h ad her ptsd visible - people take risks in that state

Still those who disliked the finale won’t shift and neither will i

Well said - the rest of the police force, with the exception of a couple of SOCOs at the beginning, were very good.
Catherine was rather a wild card and did tend to take risks so it wasn't out of character at all.

Remember too, although he was an extremely dangerous individual of which she was fully aware, he was the cause of her daughter's suicide and also the father of her grandson.
Perhaps she needed to confront him on her own terms in her own house, not just as a police officer but as a mother and grandmother before he was re-arrested.

How were the rest of the police force good in the last episode.
They failed to watch the house they knew he would visit.
They missed him at the house where he was hiding and then apparently just gave up.
They didn't spring into action until Catherine called in.

As a mother and a grandmother she'd nearly been killed by the man she knew might be in her house, did she then actually secretly want to die on her last day?

Chestnut

Well maybe Glorianny and NotSpaghetti can give us an example of a series which ticked all their boxes, was totally believable and had a perfect ending. Obviously there is a benchmark against which they are comparing this series.

I don't regard perfect endings as a necessary part of a good drama. After all you don't usually get those in life. Most things are a bit messy and inconclusive. Good police dramas I'd say recently "The Responder" with Martin Freedman.
I wonder though why you need a benchmark to criticise something. Especially something which has so many unbelievable and unlikely things in it.
As far as I'm concerned you are perfectly entitled to enjoy it and praise it, why can't I criticise it?
It was simply a cop out.

Obviously there is a benchmark against which they are comparing this series.
Not me, Chestnut

Well that's me telt. Fancy being daft enough to think I had watched a well smitten drama. Getting above myself again

Join the majority. 😀
It was so cleverly written

(Obviously a matter of opinion)

Interesting insight into Tommy's character here from James Norton. He says Tommy was not a psychopath but someone 'full of love'.

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11720571/Happy-Valleys-James-Norton-admits-feels-empathy-incredibly-damaged-Tommy-Lee-Royce.html

Glorianny

I thought there were some good moments. But the whole concept was so flawed. I thought the actors did particularly well given the absolutely ridiculous story line.
Perhaps those who require all the ends tied up were satisfied, but I do like a little reality with my drama. A pity really that an excellent series had to end with such a lot of hogwash. I also think that it portrayed the rest of the police as incompetent. They apparently didn't think it was worth watching Catherine's house, didn't spot Tommy driving from the crash site and were all just hanging around the station until Catherine called.
Tommy's ability to survive a bleeding wound, down quantities of pills and alcohol and still be steady enough to strike a match was impressive I suppose.
It obviously appealed to a lot of people but I wouldn't call it good writing. Unless you regard good writing as the ability to make the virtually impossible seem likely.

Well that's me telt. Fancy being daft enough to think I had watched a well smitten drama. Getting above myself again

It was far more multi-layered and consequently much more interesting and full of tension than if there had been a lot of police, car chases, tasers, guns and a cornered Tommy blubbering in the street and being taken back to prison.

It was Catherine and Tommy's episode.

I think a shoot-out would have been too simplistic, disappointing and a cop-out.
(Excuse the pun.)

That’s an interesting point, Callistemon about her as a mother and grandmother. She’s was hours away from not being a police officer.
She was close to retirement and that combined with the ptsd to affect her mood. Her behaviour and moods reflected those things. Dan told Ryan his mum lost it when Becky died ‘and said some horrible things to him. She lashed out in a similar way after she found an out Claire’s betrayal by secretly taking Ryan to visit. Tommy’s escape increased all this.

The fact that it’s worthy of 20 pages of comment (so far) says it all.

Iam64

I didn’t see the final as saying all the police except Catherine were portrayed as hopeless idiots. The super was excellent throughout. The uniform gang kept to their feet the minute Catherine was heard.
Her maverick approach was a theme throughout. Recent events h ad her ptsd visible - people take risks in that state

Still those who disliked the finale won’t shift and neither will i

Well said - the rest of the police force, with the exception of a couple of SOCOs at the beginning, were very good.
Catherine was rather a wild card and did tend to take risks so it wasn't out of character at all.

Remember too, although he was an extremely dangerous individual of which she was fully aware, he was the cause of her daughter's suicide and also the father of her grandson.
Perhaps she needed to confront him on her own terms in her own house, not just as a police officer but as a mother and grandmother before he was re-arrested.

I found myself wondering, the other night if Catherine would sell the house now and get a new start with Ryan in a new place.As if it was all real😁

Much as I loved this series and was riveted by the last episode I sure see why Glorianny and NotSpaghetti are saying.
It was rushed, the murder of the teacher’s wife in particular, that all needed exploring and was wrapped up in a throwaway remark by Catherine to her Super.
As for reality tho, well, if the hero always did what reality demanded there’d be little action.
I also wondered why Catherine was so unpleasant to all her police colleagues in this last series.
All in all tho, a tremendous production.

I didn’t see the final as saying all the police except Catherine were portrayed as hopeless idiots. The super was excellent throughout. The uniform gang kept to their feet the minute Catherine was heard.
Her maverick approach was a theme throughout. Recent events h ad her ptsd visible - people take risks in that state

Still those who disliked the finale won’t shift and neither will i

She wraps him him a crotchet blanket

I must admit, that bit upset me no end!

Glorianny

Callistemon21

but I do like a little reality with my drama

What is reality?

What goes on with OCG? Most people have no real clue. Do you know how the mind of someone like Tommy Lee Royce works - eg is he a psychopath or a very damaged individual with psychopathic tendencies?

Reality is abiding to some extent with police procedure which this series had done until this last episode, when everything was slanted to make Catherine a complete hero and the rest of the police idiots.

Oh dear if that's the best you can do to criticise my views

Oh dear, I thought you'd laugh.
I was wrong.
I misjudged you, apologies.