A smackhead angry over his girlfriend’s adultery sits on a slide ready to set himself on fire. A female police officer strides over, fire extinguisher in hand, hoping to put out the situation. With the crisis negotiator miles away she is the only thing coming between this man and immolation. Her introduction to the trouble starter is also an introduction to us the viewer:
“I’m Catherine by the way. I’m 47. I’m
divorced. I live with my sister who is a recovering heroin addict. I’ve got two
grown up children. One dead. One I don’t speak to. And a grandson.”
 |
| Lancashire is brilliant as Catherine Cathwood |
This ‘cold opening’ segues into the rattle
and rasp of Jake Bugg’s title music, Troubled
Town. Accompanied with images of
foreboding tower blocks, battered caravans and polluted canals, the song sings
of escaping small town poverty, foreshadowing the drama to follow.
Happy
Valley aired on television last year and because it
is up for BAFTA's this week is being repeated on BBC3. I’m now three episodes in
to the drama and am loving it. Sally Wainwright, the writer of the show, has
previous in writing crime drama, having written long-running detective show, Scott and Bailey. Although that show got
regular viewers, Valley is the more
critically acclaimed of the two, topping a plethora of end of year polls. It’s easy to see why. In Catherine Cawood Wainwright has created a
character that resonates with viewers.
 |
| Writer, producer and director Sally Wainwright |
Catherine Cawood, played by the brilliant
Sarah Lancashire, is the heartbeat of the unfolding drama. Despite suffering
the inhumanity of losing her daughter to rape and subsequent suicide, she
maintains her humanity, tending to and serving her dysfunctional community. You
see, Happy Valley’s title is ironical: a more appropriate name would be Unhappy Malaise, given how the characters are imprisoned by debt, drugs and dreams. With the dust pan and brush of the law, it falls on Catherine's team to clean up the fallout of austerity Britain.
One such dreamer is Kevin Weatherill, an
accountant at an industrial refrigerator company. He wants a pay rise to help
fund his bright daughter’s private education. For years he has worked hard in
the company and is therefore hopeful he’ll secure the money. His boss Nevison
Gallagher doesn’t see it that way. Yes, Kev has worked hard but if he gives a
pay rise to one then he has to give a pay rise to all. What then would come of my profit? says the broken capitalist
record.
 |
| Kev going cap in hand. |
Like a character from an Orwell novel, Kev walks away embittered,
aware his prayers to the money-God will never be answered. Hope arrives in an
unusual form though. Ashley Cowgill, who Kev knows as a caravan park owner,
turns out to be a bit of a crook. Aware he’ll never obtain money fairly, Kev
enters into a Faustian pact with Joe telling him about Nev’s wealth and how
kidnapping his daughter would allow them to get to it. The little
league criminals soon find out the big time crime of kidnap isn’t as easy as
they thought, and with Catherine sniffing there’s a chance everyone’s fingers
may get burnt.
The programme is up for two BAFTA’s on
Sunday for Drama Series and Best Actress. Like I said, I’m only three
episodes in, but from what I’ve seen I believe it deserves to win both. Wainwright’s writing is terse and fluid, always moving the plot
forward; Lancashire’s acting is pitch-perfect, a long way from the cobbled streets of former home Coronation Street. More than that though, her character's show of compassion to the disadvantaged is inspiring. With this election result, we must use these types of characters as totems, as reminders, that society is important and worth fighting for.
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment