"This is up there with some of the greatest television of all time" - TV critics share their thoughts on the success of Happy Valley

We asked journalist and author Caroline Frost, TV critic Scott Bryan, who regularly appears across the BBC, film and TV critic Rhianna Dhillon, works for the BBC and The Radio Times, Jack Seale, a freelance TV critic who regularly writes for The Guardian and The Radio Times and Nick Hilton, TV critic for The Independent for their views.

Why was Happy Valley such a massive success?

Nick: Happy Valley felt so much smarter, funnier, twistier than its competitors in the TV cop show space, that audiences immediately perceived it as something unique. It’s always help that rare position as a British TV show that we think is every bit as good as the most celebrated stuff across the Atlantic.

Jack: Before Happy Valley, you would instinctively look to America for serious cop shows and crime thrillers, where the jeopardy and the people placed within it feel real - so many British crime shows have a genteel, parlour-game vibe. Either that or they're about secret, elite law enforcement agencies that barely interact with everyday life. Happy Valley was nothing like that, and it wasn't American in feel at all: before Brexit, Boris and Covid, it tapped into a simmering sense that something was specifically broken in austerity Britain, and then it had all these funny, minutely observed characters and family relationships that reminded us we were all in that crisis together. It's a big thriller and a detailed character drama at the same time.

Rhianna: There are so many reasons why this show is so successful but it has to start with the writing - Sally Wainwright has created these characters who have such empathy and a sense of good within them, who are pitted against the worst of humanity and yet, she still makes sure to give the antagonists enough of a backstory for us to learn about their motives and decide for ourselves about how truly evil they are, or if they're desperate and a product of their circumstances, or greedy megalomaniacs who have no hope of redemption. Catherine Cawood and her family are honest and hardworking, not without their flaws and their own traumas but they have the resilience to keep going, to find forgiveness, using humour to navigate their way through life - it's the banality and the 'everyday-ness' of these people who are launched into extraordinary situations which makes us relate. Of course, the charisma of the actors is the other huge reason for our love of the show. In any other series of this description, the focus would be on the cat and mouse game between Tommy Lee Royce and Catherine Cawood but fans will know that the reason they keep coming back is because of Catherine and Clare's relationship. Sarah Lancashire and Siobhan Finneran have developed a shorthand, a way of communicating that feels as private as conversations between two sisters should feel but also makes us feel as though we are joining them in a steaming cup of tea and gossip about the goings on in Calderdale. The excellent dialogue is almost thrown away in Lancashire's informal, understated performance but that makes us listen even more intently.

Scott: Happy Valley is a crime show and a police procedural, but it is much more than that. It has had such success because it looks at trauma felt through three generations of a family, with characters who are flawed just like you and I. It looks at huge issues in such an engaging way, from organised crime to the opioid crisis. And it does it all in a high stakes, unpredictable fashion. you have no idea where it is going to head next.

Caroline: Three main reasons – intensely, carefully plotted narrative that allowed for coincidences permissible in a small town, incorporating suspense, revenge, betrayal and ultimately the possibility of redemption. Superb script by Sally Wainwright, full of both dark and light - exploring strong emotions but also allowing moments of relief, humour and relatable everyday observations. Cast performances - across the board, top-notch, convincing and human, led by Sarah Lancashire, who convinced at every turn and gave us a reason to care.

How much has the setting of Calderdale played a part in that success?

Caroline: The setting has been intrinsic to the success of this show. It provided the intimacy of cobbled streets, where good and bad people could easily run into each other, it gave a realistic portrayal of differing levels of wealth and how they rub up against each other, and it afforded us beauty of the surrounding countryside, a balm to the violence and intrigue at the centre of the show.

Scott: I think the setting of Calderdale has been a remarkable backdrop for this drama, as it provides a sense of community and authenticity that helps Happy Valley fly. There are countless times when you have to remind yourself that this is a drama you are watching, because the setting bleeds into the screen.

Rhianna: We see Calderdale through the eyes of Catherine and so even the saddest and bleakest storylines are tinged with empathy and understanding. It is not a judgemental series about people who live in poverty, it's a window into a different way of life, giving the majority of audiences an insight into what existence might be like in some of the most isolated areas of the country. The beauty of the moors is also a visually stunning contrast to the experiences of the characters.

Jack: In many ways you could set it anywhere outside big cities and the south-east of England, but Calderdale is exactly right for what the show is trying to get across: it looks beautiful and idyllic, the sort of place people from elsewhere in Britain want to go to on holiday, but then there's misery and real, vicious violence around every corner. It would lose something if you set it in a place that seems bleak from the outset. The point is: this stuff is everywhere. Also, as a southerner I'm a bit wary of saying it but it does have what seems to us down here like a very northern, hardy wit.

Nick: There’s a trope in detective dramas – from Nordic Noir to True Detective – to contrast geographic beauty with the misery of life there. So in that sense, the Calder Valley was a natural setting. But beyond the geography, there was a sense – at least here in London – that Happy Valley represented something true about the Yorkshire spirit. Welcoming but wary.

Do you think it deserves a place among the greatest dramas to be seen on British TV?

Jack: I think it does. It has all the elements you need: a faultless cast, a top writer producing their best work, and the sense both of it being a cultural sensation at the time of broadcast, and something that will be looked at in years to come as a product of what Britain was like back then.

Caroline: There is a lot of crime drama on our TV. What sets Happy Valley apart is the strength of the characterisation of just about every person good and bad, making us invest in their outcomes.

Nick: The proof of your position in the pantheon pudding is always down the line. How will Happy Valley be remembered in 10 years? I suspect it will still hold us as the best in its class, though perhaps it doesn’t have that spark of genius, that sense of resetting the genre, that we say in, say, Fawlty Towers or The Office.

Scott: I think Happy Valley is a rarity because it is essentially a trilogy. Set over a decade, it has weaved together plot lines together to a dramatic and satisfying conclusion. It hasn't felt the urge to continue longer than it wants to, even though it has had a considerable number of fans.

Rhianna: Absolutely, this is up there with some of the greatest television of all time. In this era, watercooler moments are few and far between and yet every episode became a talking point in its own right. The theories of what might happen, the shock and astonishment of what did happen, these are things that we will greatly miss talking about each week no Happy Valley is no longer on our screens. Wainwright's storytelling is always gripping but it is the feminist backbone of the show which makes this such an enduring watch, not just the thriller aspect.

What did you think of the final episode?

Jack: It was pretty extraordinary. The thing with Happy Valley series two and three is: there's not actually much story there, because once Tommy goes to jail at the end of series one it's basically all over. And the finale does have a lot of coincidence and contrivance to get Tommy and Catherine back together. But you never really notice any of this, because there's something great in every line and every gesture. It passed what you might call the Sherlock test: when there's so much speculation about how a story is to be resolved, it's very easy to end up leaving the audience feeling cheated or saying, is that it? Sherlock got that badly wrong but Happy Valley was miles ahead of everyone - people who tried to predict what would happen got basically none of it right! It must have been so tempting for Sally Wainwright to go out with a big bang, but she knows what her show is: yes it's thrilling and suspenseful but really it's about people's emotions, memories and choices. The way she circled back to that, and the way she elegantly dispatched all the lesser storylines without making them seem cursory or loose-ended, was genius.

Nick: Finales are incredibly tough things to write, and I don’t envy Sally Wainwright’s task there. I think she did an admirable job of pulling together the important threads, and leaving the less important ones with sufficient closure. This final season hasn’t been perfect – the subplot involving Faisal and Rob is far weaker than the ones involving Kevin Weatherill or DS Wadsworth in previous seasons – but I think there was a sense of catharsis when it drew to its close. No-one was pandered to, nothing was sensationalised; it was true to its own spirit.

Rhianna: The final episode was perfect because nobody's theory was correct (who had self-immolation on their Happy Valley bingo card?) and yet it remained true to the theme of the show. All of the awful male antagonists got their deserved comeuppance but every single one happened off screen, making space for Catherine and Clare to reunite and for Catherine to finally be at peace. The arrests of the teacher and the pharmacist and the death of Tommy Lee Royce were all necessary but they were incidental to the true heart of the series. Why should the predators get the screen time and more attention? Instead, we are all rewarded with the knowledge that Catherine, after years of service to the people of Calderdale, was able to set off on her retirement trip, leaving behind a happy and well-adjusted grandson.

Caroline: The final episode was an inspired piece of storytelling. While the show had previously threatened great violence, ultimately it came down to two people, each defined by the other, equally full of anger and pain. A calm but devastating showdown, and one that will be remembered long after the end of the series.

Scott: It was great! I think it managed to match, if not exceed expectations. I won't reveal spoilers, but the way that it had the showdown you always wish and expected it would. And it managed to tie up storylines from the very first episode? Just genius.