Happy Valley is a crime/drama that began airing on BBC One, April 29, 2014.

When the series opens, we are introduced to rough and tough police sergeant, Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire), whose job is basically talking people down from playground equipment and preventing suicide. She is currently raising her young grandson, Ryan (Rhys Connah), while getting help from her recovering drug addict sister, Clare Cartwright (Siobhan Finneran). 

Catherine’s life is getting ready to take a turn for the worse because her deceased daughter’s rapist, Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton), is being released from prison after serving eight years. Tommy pairs up with property developer, Ashley Cowgill (Joe Armstrong), and ex-con, Lewis Whippey (Adam Long), to commit a very daring crime that will leave the people of Yorkshire Valley questioning what is happening to their peaceful town. 

Poltroon Kevin Weatherill (Steve Pemberton) finally gets the nerve to ask his overbearing boss, Nevison Gallagher (George Costigan), for a raise so he can send his oldest daughter, Catriona (Maddie Barker), to a prominent college. At first, Nevison denies Kevin’s request, but sees how devastated his loyal employee is, which forces him to change his mind and agrees to ponder it. 

Kevin and his debilitated wife, Jenny (Julia Ford), visit their favorite vacation spot, which belongs to none other than the barbarous Ashley. Kevin accidentally discovers that Ashley does not always walk the straight and narrow because his more prosperous job is illegal drug running. Kevin is still upset about Nevison’s response to his raise request and mentions to Ashley how they can make lot of money by kidnapping Nevison’s daughter, Ann (Charlie Murphy), and hold her ransom. Ashley agrees to the deal and promises to give Kevin ten percent of the profit. 

Lewis and Tommy easily capture Ann and take her to one of Ashley’s empty apartments. They duct tape her to a chair and keep her locked inside the car garage, while taking turns partially tending to her needs. The original deal is to get their money and return her unharmed to her parents, but thanks to Tommy’s devious ways that plan quickly goes awry. 

Meanwhile, Ashley is working out a deal with Nevison, which appears to be going okay, until Catherine happens to discover where Tommy is spending his time, but she doesn’t have authorization to investigate further. She receives a call from her ex-husband, Richard (Derek Riddell), who has some bad news for her. He tells her that he is getting laid off from his job at the local newspaper and somehow they end up sleeping together. 

Nevison’s wife, Helen (Jill Baker), decides to go against his request to not get the cops involved and reveals to Catherine that Ann has been kidnapped. Catherine makes a call to her old colleague, Detective Phil Crabtree (Alan McKenna), to request assistance with the case. With Crabtree in control of the case, Catherine can now focus on locating Tommy. 

It doesn’t take Crabtree very long to decide that Kevin is the mastermind behind the scheme. He questions Kevin about the delivery of the ransom money and with a little prompting he willingly tells Crabtree a mouthful of lies. After a break in the case, Ashley and Kevin are arrested, while Lewis and Tommy go on the run.

Will Ann make it home alive or will they kill her because she is a threat to their freedom? Will Catherine get revenge for her daughter’s death or will she continue to be haunted by it? 

Review

Happy Valley revolves around honorable Sergeant Catherine Cawood, who is dealing with the death of her daughter, a failed marriage, and raising her young grandson, while trying to maintain control over the town and her small police force. It doesn’t really show if Catherine wants to get revenge on Tommy for her daughter’s death, but she is determined to not let him repeat this heinous crime in her town. Hopefully Sarah Lancashire receives an award for her outstanding performance in this series. The character that grabs my attention the most is Kevin, which is played by the grand Steve Pemberton, whom I have been a fan of since I watched him in Psychoville. All the other characters should also be commended for their great acting especially little Rhys Connah, whom performed exceptionally well in his big role as Ryan. 

The story is finely paced and moves along perfectly from beginning till the very end. The beautiful, misty valleys and overcrowded apartment complexes are the perfect setting for this bleak show. I will definitely be hanging around for the second season and hope that it is as riveting as the first season. I think Happy Valley deserves an 8.5 out of 10.