Perhaps I was watching a different program from what most other reviewers have described. The program I saw was entirely about the Catherine Caywood, brilliantly acted by Sarah Lancashire. Catherine is a crackerjack cop, but a mess otherwise. She is mean, humorless, unkempt, hypocritical, and has constructed an elaborate fantasy about her family. The fantasy is well supported by several characters so flawed and inept that she seems heroic by comparison. Catherine's façade is stripped away in the big confrontation, where it becomes obvious that the grandson was right when he kept saying, "it's more complicated." Indeed it is. Along with Lancashire, acting kudos go to Siobhan Finneran, who may have perfected the role of good-hearted insipid ding-a-ling, and James Norton, who at once is unrelentingly evil and oddly vulnerable.
17 Reviews
Absolutely incredible! What an ending
xtyffkk5 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I won't write a huge amount, I'm still digesting everything I've just seen but WOW!
The tension of that episode, I couldn't breathe at parts. I needed a wee halfway through but I didn't dare move!!
I'll start with the only minor negatives I have which is that Faisal and Robs arcs were wrapped up very quickly. But we knew Rob was a pedo from episode 2 so I don't agree with some comments saying it came out of nowhere - all the clues were there.
As for the positives? I had no idea until the last second how any of it was gonna play out, I kept second guessing everything!
I do believe Tommy loved Becky in his own twisted little way and I know he loved Ryan. I'm so happy we saw that side of him and the way he saw Catherine in a different light. I'm so happy Catherine didn't just watch him burn, even after everything he'd done she couldn't slip down to allowing someone to die when they could be saved. I'm so happy Ryan opened her eyes about how Claire has always been there. I'm so happy she finally seems to have found peace.
And I have to mention how much I bloody love Nevison offering to cook them all breakfast - what an absolute legend!!!
Farewell Happy Valley, it's been a rollercoaster. It was incredible- give them every award!!!
9675 - over and out.
The tension of that episode, I couldn't breathe at parts. I needed a wee halfway through but I didn't dare move!!
I'll start with the only minor negatives I have which is that Faisal and Robs arcs were wrapped up very quickly. But we knew Rob was a pedo from episode 2 so I don't agree with some comments saying it came out of nowhere - all the clues were there.
As for the positives? I had no idea until the last second how any of it was gonna play out, I kept second guessing everything!
I do believe Tommy loved Becky in his own twisted little way and I know he loved Ryan. I'm so happy we saw that side of him and the way he saw Catherine in a different light. I'm so happy Catherine didn't just watch him burn, even after everything he'd done she couldn't slip down to allowing someone to die when they could be saved. I'm so happy Ryan opened her eyes about how Claire has always been there. I'm so happy she finally seems to have found peace.
And I have to mention how much I bloody love Nevison offering to cook them all breakfast - what an absolute legend!!!
Farewell Happy Valley, it's been a rollercoaster. It was incredible- give them every award!!!
9675 - over and out.
Best Series
aemc-851694 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I was surprised to read the lackluster reviews for season 3 as I thoroughly enjoyed it. I rarely get teary watching a show, but I was definitely weepy during the last episode. As the season progressed we were led to think that Tommy had no true feelings for his son but in the final episode he tells Ryan that he loves him and he has tears in his eyes. When Tommy is stabbed and he's struggling to get to the house to kill the gran the tension was so high. As we watched Tommy look at Ryan's room and then go through the photo albums we finally see that Tommy is capable of love. I loved the entire series. Great acting and great writing!!
Anti Climax
kristhebass6 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I've been hooked on this series since day one, the writing, the acting, the scenery is all top notch. Sarah Lancashire deserves all the awards under the sun, as does James Norton, hell they all do.
Like the rest of the world I've been on tender hooks to see how this would all wrap up. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement, not quite sure what I was expecting but Tommy turning himself into a human torch was not it. I did expect a confrontation with Catherine but something a bit more, well exciting.
Never mind happy ending for her, Ryan and co. But the. Lose ends of Hepworth and Faisal tied up in less than a minute, seriously? Did the writer run out of steam? Seriously disappointed with the anti climax but to be fair only knocking off a star for that.
Like the rest of the world I've been on tender hooks to see how this would all wrap up. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement, not quite sure what I was expecting but Tommy turning himself into a human torch was not it. I did expect a confrontation with Catherine but something a bit more, well exciting.
Never mind happy ending for her, Ryan and co. But the. Lose ends of Hepworth and Faisal tied up in less than a minute, seriously? Did the writer run out of steam? Seriously disappointed with the anti climax but to be fair only knocking off a star for that.
There needed to be one last episode
emuir-121 May 2024
Warning: Spoilers
As many posters have pointed out, the ending of the sub plots was too rushd, and almost an epilog. There was enough material for a proper closure - how did the net finally clamp down on Faisal, how did his wife and daughters react? Why was the veil of suspicion no longer on the gym teacher, but he was nailed for blackmail and pedophilia instead? The episode was needed to clear up the loose ends dramatically, could have shown Tommy Lee Royce's funeral or memorial service, and ended with Catherine's farewell party and a few jokes over her trip to the Himalayas. Otherwise the acting was perfect, but I would like to have seen more of Susan Lynch.
Fantastic series let down by a rushed ending
jndsxk6 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I want to start by saying this is one of my
Favourite tv series I've ever seen, the characters, the settings, the story lines were fantastic, which is why it's so disappointing that it's finished and i feel so underwhelmed. I am relatively happy with the outcome of the thick of the storyline, i have no problem with the outcome of TLR and felt it was built up and executed great, however the sub plots were neglected. What the hell happened to Darius? Suddenly TLR mentions his name and he's automatically convicted? No real on screen comeuppance for The PE teacher or the Pharmacist?
Too many fish hooks left for the viewers which led to nowhere, Neil? Rob? Nev? The pe teachers daughters and their cotes?
No obvious closure for Anne?
Over all A fantastic series both well thought out and beautifully cast and filmed but the finale left me underwhelmed.
Too many fish hooks left for the viewers which led to nowhere, Neil? Rob? Nev? The pe teachers daughters and their cotes?
No obvious closure for Anne?
Over all A fantastic series both well thought out and beautifully cast and filmed but the finale left me underwhelmed.
Unforgivable
raeldor-9687910 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
You bring back the series after a long hiatus to close the story off and you end it with a half-a$$ed episode like this? What happened to the doctor and the PE teacher? How did the doctor's family react and how did it affect them? How did Ryan deal with the death of his dad? Did Catherine ever get to go on her trip? In a series where the family drama is given equal weight to the police drama it's unforgivable to drop the ball like this. This needed at least another episode or 2 to tie up the loose ends. I was a serious let down after what was, for the most part, a pretty good season. Such a waste.
Some implausible plot developments
JBLOSS9 February 2023
Firstly I've enjoyed watching Happy Valley overall but in the same way The Killing became a bit cliched I think the same thing happened here. The writer should be congratulated for avoiding an all guns blazing Hollywood neat and tidy wrap up but the journey to the climax was a bit frustrating and unlikely. At least the main villain TLR was presented in more complexity and was able to display some humanity.
For the plot to work our heroine has to do the most stupid and irresponsible things and ignore basic police protocol - something that we can see in many of the other previous episodes is that she plays generally by the book. That is a bit of a let down and feels very contrived.
The subplots in this season also get jettisoned and are not resolved in a satisfactory manner - why spend so much time on them if you then hastily wrap them all up in about 20 seconds. They were quite intriguing and I felt deserved a bit more air time.
For the plot to work our heroine has to do the most stupid and irresponsible things and ignore basic police protocol - something that we can see in many of the other previous episodes is that she plays generally by the book. That is a bit of a let down and feels very contrived.
The subplots in this season also get jettisoned and are not resolved in a satisfactory manner - why spend so much time on them if you then hastily wrap them all up in about 20 seconds. They were quite intriguing and I felt deserved a bit more air time.
Disappointed
Warin_West-El6 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
This incredibly formulaic and disappointing episode began with what was apparently, an attempt to kill Tommy Lee Royce. Which was a savvy switch because that immediately flipped the script and transformed Tommy into a somewhat sympathetic character.
Strangely, there was a plethora of subplots needing resolution and yet screen time was frivolously wasted. For example, the shot of Catherine driving to get a cake was totally superfluous to the plot.
Catherine was portrayed as sleeping while TLR broke into her house. In the real world, people sense when something is not right in their environment. A window was broken! Catherine should have awakened. REMEMBER SHE'S A COP. The only reason she didn't was to further a plot point.
What was most disappointing from the standpoint of credibility was the writers opted to employ perhaps the most overused crime drama cliche of all: FAILING TO WAIT FOR BACKUP.
In the real world, having discovered evidence of a break-in at her home AND with a known murderer on the loose, Catherine stays outside and calls for backup. When the police arrive, they cover the front and back, then they storm the house.
Instead, we have a HIGHLY UNREALISTIC sequence where Catherine enters her home solo. Then she and Tommy Lee sit at a table together and have a battle of words. Which was the problem with this episode: too many words, too few actions.
Upon reflection you can see what happened. Faced with the difficult task of wrapping up a premiere series, the producers opted to bring in the big gun. Sarah Lancashire is a fantastic actress with highly nuanced skills. But imho, the filmmakers miscalculated their screenplay. This was not Shakespeare, this was the last episode of Happy Valley.
Tommy setting himself on fire in Catherine's home was perhaps symbolic . . . Yet HIGHLY contrived. Furthermore, that never would have happened if Catherine had followed standard police protocol. It was as if the filmmakers had decided to kill off TLR and everything in this episode was designed to reach that conclusion.
Whatever happened to Darius? Where are the scenes of Faisal and Rob being arrested? How about showing us a brief glimpse of the retirement party for Catherine?
Perhaps the graveyard scene was meaningful to the character, Catherine. But it certainly wasn't meaningful to the audience. IMHO, the filmmakers sorely misjudged the task of their final episode. This series was not entitled "Catherine's Burden", this was "Happy Valley."
Don't take my word for it, read the other comments. We're ALL disappointed.
Strangely, there was a plethora of subplots needing resolution and yet screen time was frivolously wasted. For example, the shot of Catherine driving to get a cake was totally superfluous to the plot.
Catherine was portrayed as sleeping while TLR broke into her house. In the real world, people sense when something is not right in their environment. A window was broken! Catherine should have awakened. REMEMBER SHE'S A COP. The only reason she didn't was to further a plot point.
What was most disappointing from the standpoint of credibility was the writers opted to employ perhaps the most overused crime drama cliche of all: FAILING TO WAIT FOR BACKUP.
In the real world, having discovered evidence of a break-in at her home AND with a known murderer on the loose, Catherine stays outside and calls for backup. When the police arrive, they cover the front and back, then they storm the house.
Instead, we have a HIGHLY UNREALISTIC sequence where Catherine enters her home solo. Then she and Tommy Lee sit at a table together and have a battle of words. Which was the problem with this episode: too many words, too few actions.
Upon reflection you can see what happened. Faced with the difficult task of wrapping up a premiere series, the producers opted to bring in the big gun. Sarah Lancashire is a fantastic actress with highly nuanced skills. But imho, the filmmakers miscalculated their screenplay. This was not Shakespeare, this was the last episode of Happy Valley.
Tommy setting himself on fire in Catherine's home was perhaps symbolic . . . Yet HIGHLY contrived. Furthermore, that never would have happened if Catherine had followed standard police protocol. It was as if the filmmakers had decided to kill off TLR and everything in this episode was designed to reach that conclusion.
Whatever happened to Darius? Where are the scenes of Faisal and Rob being arrested? How about showing us a brief glimpse of the retirement party for Catherine?
Perhaps the graveyard scene was meaningful to the character, Catherine. But it certainly wasn't meaningful to the audience. IMHO, the filmmakers sorely misjudged the task of their final episode. This series was not entitled "Catherine's Burden", this was "Happy Valley."
Don't take my word for it, read the other comments. We're ALL disappointed.
No Peace In The Valley
Lejink20 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The third and presumably final series of "Happy Valley" has already won plenty of praise from critics, so I was hopeful that this six-episode run would match the high standards of the previous two. Well, for me, it did and it didn't.
The "did" I would largely attribute to the acting. Sarah Lancashire, Siobhan Finneran and James Norton as the three main protagonists clearly inhabit their characters and put in stellar performances. The "didn't" however I really have to lay at the door of the writing. Where do I start? We're expected to believe that a sixteen-year-old boy, who has been told that his young mother was abused, raped and driven to suicide by a psychopathic murderer, who also attempted to murder his grandmother, would somehow reach out to his "dad" and go behind said loving and fiercely protective grandmother and great-aunt's backs to make contact with this monster.
Secondly, we're expected also to believe the reverse, that the many-times cold-blooded killer (whose body-count is indeed ramped up still further during the course of events) would end up turning to mush over the grown boy he sired only through rape. I'm sorry, I couldn't accept either, never mind both of these plot and characterisation points.
Of course it was all set up for a big Harry Potter v Voldemort-like confrontation between Lancashire and Norton at the finish, but while just desserts I suppose were duly meted out in appropriate measures, somehow it just didn't ring true for me.
As ever in these types of drama, the smaller the town, the greater the murder quotient and sure enough while Tommy Lee is able to escape remarkably easily from a packed courtroom where he's due to be sentenced and from there go on a mini killing-spree out in the middle of nowhere, elsewhere there's another murder in town, this time of a young housewife with a drug dependency in a loveless marriage to her coldly unsympathetic school-teacher husband. This story for me held greater interest than the less credible main story but it's conveniently sidelined while Lancashire and Norton have their big face-off plus of course with her last act at the end of a very busy day, guess who cracks that case too.
No, despite the good performances in front of the camera, I failed to appreciate the unlikely hoops I was put through by the writing and direction here. I just felt you could drive a police security van through the narrative shortcomings and misplaced character motivations. This truly turned out to be a deep, deep metaphorical valley through which to journey, at least for this viewer, with no real peaks to engage me along the way.
The "did" I would largely attribute to the acting. Sarah Lancashire, Siobhan Finneran and James Norton as the three main protagonists clearly inhabit their characters and put in stellar performances. The "didn't" however I really have to lay at the door of the writing. Where do I start? We're expected to believe that a sixteen-year-old boy, who has been told that his young mother was abused, raped and driven to suicide by a psychopathic murderer, who also attempted to murder his grandmother, would somehow reach out to his "dad" and go behind said loving and fiercely protective grandmother and great-aunt's backs to make contact with this monster.
Secondly, we're expected also to believe the reverse, that the many-times cold-blooded killer (whose body-count is indeed ramped up still further during the course of events) would end up turning to mush over the grown boy he sired only through rape. I'm sorry, I couldn't accept either, never mind both of these plot and characterisation points.
Of course it was all set up for a big Harry Potter v Voldemort-like confrontation between Lancashire and Norton at the finish, but while just desserts I suppose were duly meted out in appropriate measures, somehow it just didn't ring true for me.
As ever in these types of drama, the smaller the town, the greater the murder quotient and sure enough while Tommy Lee is able to escape remarkably easily from a packed courtroom where he's due to be sentenced and from there go on a mini killing-spree out in the middle of nowhere, elsewhere there's another murder in town, this time of a young housewife with a drug dependency in a loveless marriage to her coldly unsympathetic school-teacher husband. This story for me held greater interest than the less credible main story but it's conveniently sidelined while Lancashire and Norton have their big face-off plus of course with her last act at the end of a very busy day, guess who cracks that case too.
No, despite the good performances in front of the camera, I failed to appreciate the unlikely hoops I was put through by the writing and direction here. I just felt you could drive a police security van through the narrative shortcomings and misplaced character motivations. This truly turned out to be a deep, deep metaphorical valley through which to journey, at least for this viewer, with no real peaks to engage me along the way.
Pretty disappointing finale
olibenet7 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I was expecting some kind of twist or surprise or anything to make it a bit special but worse than that nothing really happened of any consequence. The nemesis didn't really achieve anything the entire show other than escape jail and mope about, the other main crime in the show wasn't even solved on-screen, despite it being quite a good story, I was looking forward to how that was going to be solved, a clever clue? A slip up? No, a ridiculous finding pills under a bed at a random persons house that belongs to a parole officer who's happy to tell everyone where she got them from, and somehow that's supposed to be a "wow" maybe the pharmacist who sells pills is a murderer (bit of a reach). We never get to see the husbands reaction, or being properly arrested, or the pharmacist being interviewed... it was just half a story. So, if you think about it, what really happened the whole show?
The first two seasons were great.
fishermark-9609813 February 2023
But what happened here?
With the discussions other people were having about this programme I was very excited to start watching and with iplayer having all 3 series on catchup I thought it best to start from the beginning.
Well I was blown over by the first series. Strong acting, great cast and very good plot and dialogue.
The second series was not as intense it was if they were cashing in on the first series although we were getting to know the characters better.
The 3rd and final series tried to get some lost violence brought back into the plot but all felt very staged and you knew what was coming next.
All in all great start but let down at the end.
With the discussions other people were having about this programme I was very excited to start watching and with iplayer having all 3 series on catchup I thought it best to start from the beginning.
Well I was blown over by the first series. Strong acting, great cast and very good plot and dialogue.
The second series was not as intense it was if they were cashing in on the first series although we were getting to know the characters better.
The 3rd and final series tried to get some lost violence brought back into the plot but all felt very staged and you knew what was coming next.
All in all great start but let down at the end.
Damp squib of sn ending
dangordon-597468 February 2023
What a pity, this has been a tremendous show across three dramatic seasons, building slowly, ratcheting up the tension. Then this final episode arrives. As with Line of Duty this felt like the writers had run out of ideas, how to draw all these strands together. What we end up with is an underwhelming conclusion, sure
Tommy's story is well done, but the rest.... Just giving the other strands little more than a brief explanation that had little relevance to what came before was disappointing. It is a real shame because the elements were all in place, instead the writer opts for a cop out which misses the landing.
Truly Dissapointing
mahdiftw9 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
As the other reviewers here who can reflect on the season objectively, what a horrible end to such a unique, highly engaging british crime series. Initially I thought the season was going to be a slow burner, despite their only being 6 episodes to conclude all the stories being opened up in the first few episodes, I trusted the writers who done wonderfully in the first two seasons would do the same for this one. Unfortunately not, once we reach the final episode, with literally every other story still very much in the mix we're boxed into a Tommy and Catherine showdown which in itself wasn't the worst, however definitely not the way it should've been done. As mentioned, the other stories are either 'concluded' with one sentence or just left all together.
As for the characters, I feel they also got it wrong because by the end of it I was somewhat rooting for TLR with how jarring Catherine is constantly miserable and believes she can never do wrong, Ryan likewise knowing very much enough to never want to have a relationship with his dad is adamant in doing so for the sake of 'making his own mind up about him'. Very much a plot convenient premise and story and overall the quality of the show pays for it.
As for the characters, I feel they also got it wrong because by the end of it I was somewhat rooting for TLR with how jarring Catherine is constantly miserable and believes she can never do wrong, Ryan likewise knowing very much enough to never want to have a relationship with his dad is adamant in doing so for the sake of 'making his own mind up about him'. Very much a plot convenient premise and story and overall the quality of the show pays for it.
Underwhelming
justasimplereview8 February 2023
Just a blah ending. Catherine cried wayyyyy to much in this season. Tears are more effective used sparingly in a show.
The whole last episode fell really flat. Ryan communicating with TLR via video game was just stupid, how did they know eachother's usernames? With a serial killer who tried to light him on fire once he would have been way more closely monitored than this.
The "showdown" between TLR and Catherine was lacklustre and boring. He is a bit warped kind of sorry and she hates him. Blah. No real meat here
What annoyed me the most was the ending between the pharmacist and the PE teacher. Not wrapped up AT ALL. That was a total cop out from the writers. Why end a show of this calibre with a lazy non sensical whippy ending where one of the main storylines was just casually solved in a one minute exchange with zero explanation.
If this was a school report "has been known to do much better work"
The whole last episode fell really flat. Ryan communicating with TLR via video game was just stupid, how did they know eachother's usernames? With a serial killer who tried to light him on fire once he would have been way more closely monitored than this.
The "showdown" between TLR and Catherine was lacklustre and boring. He is a bit warped kind of sorry and she hates him. Blah. No real meat here
What annoyed me the most was the ending between the pharmacist and the PE teacher. Not wrapped up AT ALL. That was a total cop out from the writers. Why end a show of this calibre with a lazy non sensical whippy ending where one of the main storylines was just casually solved in a one minute exchange with zero explanation.
If this was a school report "has been known to do much better work"
Was there supposed to be another episode?
meykman30 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Really enjoyed all three series, but this final episode seemed to run out of time before all the storylines were concluded. After the fifth episode I was thinking there would be a lot to tie up on the final sixth installment, and apparently it was.
It is almost like the writers realized halfway through writing the sixth episode that there would not be another one. The entire Faisal storyline was forgotten and a wrapped up with a couple lines of dialog that seems the implied arrests would be a non sequitur to the info Catherine provided. The gym teacher got dropped from suspicion for some unknown reason. Catherine somehow links Faisal to the murdet with less evidence than the gym teacher had against him.
Beyond that, there was no real closure to the family dysfunction. The TLR ending was goofy despite the violence. At one point I was actually rooting for him against the Darius gang, though that might have been the writer's intent to creat character complexity.
Overall the show is well worth watching, just the season three ending is substandard.
It is almost like the writers realized halfway through writing the sixth episode that there would not be another one. The entire Faisal storyline was forgotten and a wrapped up with a couple lines of dialog that seems the implied arrests would be a non sequitur to the info Catherine provided. The gym teacher got dropped from suspicion for some unknown reason. Catherine somehow links Faisal to the murdet with less evidence than the gym teacher had against him.
Beyond that, there was no real closure to the family dysfunction. The TLR ending was goofy despite the violence. At one point I was actually rooting for him against the Darius gang, though that might have been the writer's intent to creat character complexity.
Overall the show is well worth watching, just the season three ending is substandard.
The worst host of characters I've ever seen
pat-ford-26 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Surely I can't be the only one who sat through this non-sensical season - after two very solid previous seasons - and wondered what on earth changed.
Almost every single one of the characters is absolutely nauseating. Catherine, an overly sarcastic and sanctimonious grandmother to Ryan, a moronic teenager who communicates with his on-the-run, rapist, mass-murdering father (that the writers seemingly tried to humanise?) via some bizarre 00s games console?
Almost every plot point was entirely reliant on people's incompetence. The entire premise of Tommy escaping prison, breaking into Catherine's house, and to set up for an entirely un-moving ending monologue was just perplexing.
Not to mention the apparently almost completely irrelevant sub-plot, involving Faisal, whose only move seemed to be getting close to people's faces and shaking a lot.
The rest of Catherine's family, save for Anne (to whom Catherine is her usual snarky, condescending and unlikeable self), are one dimensional morons with not one shred of common sense between them.
There was no real mystery here, no crime plot for which Happy Valley originally established itself as one of the better examples of modern British crime dramas - this was six episodes of bizarre, verbose, repetitive and boring back-and-forths with some far-fetched and laughable 'action' sequences.
How far it's fallen. Thankfully that's hopefully the last of an entirely unappealing series.
Almost every single one of the characters is absolutely nauseating. Catherine, an overly sarcastic and sanctimonious grandmother to Ryan, a moronic teenager who communicates with his on-the-run, rapist, mass-murdering father (that the writers seemingly tried to humanise?) via some bizarre 00s games console?
Almost every plot point was entirely reliant on people's incompetence. The entire premise of Tommy escaping prison, breaking into Catherine's house, and to set up for an entirely un-moving ending monologue was just perplexing.
Not to mention the apparently almost completely irrelevant sub-plot, involving Faisal, whose only move seemed to be getting close to people's faces and shaking a lot.
The rest of Catherine's family, save for Anne (to whom Catherine is her usual snarky, condescending and unlikeable self), are one dimensional morons with not one shred of common sense between them.
There was no real mystery here, no crime plot for which Happy Valley originally established itself as one of the better examples of modern British crime dramas - this was six episodes of bizarre, verbose, repetitive and boring back-and-forths with some far-fetched and laughable 'action' sequences.
How far it's fallen. Thankfully that's hopefully the last of an entirely unappealing series.
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