Why we need more women like Happy Valley’s Catherine Cawood on TV
Photo: BBC
Can’t believe it’s over… The award-winning BBC police drama Happy Valley concluded last night with a powerful finale, watched by 7.5 million viewers. Such brilliant TV. Genius writing courtesy of Sally Wainwright and superb acting led by Sarah Lancashire. How good is it to see an authentic, 50-something woman as the star of the show?
Every episode is full of excellent quotes and laugh-out-loud one-liners, but my favourite is Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) talking about ageing and her impending retirement:
‘I’m just becoming the person I always wanted to be. Don’t take shit off anyone, any more. I say it like it is. I know who I am. Finally. And I know the be-all and end-all isn’t necessarily to get myself hitched to the first flaky twat of a man who happens along.’
There’s a great feature on Catherine Cawood/ Sarah Lancashire HERE.
We need more women like this on our screens.
Discussion (21 Comments)
Mrs Tonia says:
I’ve not watched any series of Happy Valley yet. It comes highly recommended. I like the principal actors. I need to begin at the beginning and catch up on I-Player this spring.
Thanks for your recommendation.lesquatrechats says:
Hearing so much praise from u, I definitely will watch Happy Valley. Just watched the last Tango in Halifax, also written by Sally Wainwright and starred by Sarah Lancashire.
Rach with an E says:
Your TV recommendations are so useful – no more trawling through unworthy TV. I agree that a regular reading post would be a wonderful thing. That’s after I’ve watched all of Happy Valley, of course!
Wendy Headeach says:
Agreed, excellent writing and acting which showed people in all their glory and flaws. A nod too to James Norton who, with a good script, gave us a three dimensional male abuser. Evil yes, but a damaged child at the heart who’d never had the example of good love shown to him.
Pippa says:
I’m not a fan of crime shows normally, but I’ve really enjoyed Happy Valley. Fantastic acting, but I think principally it’s the characterisation, relationships and dialogue which make it an absolute winner. Plus taking place in a part of the world that my family stems from!
Lin James says:
One of the great joys of the series was the interior design and wardrobe, especially the way that handknitted items (like Catherine’s colour shifting scarf) reappeared throughout (& it looked to be a budget yarn). I have a theory that Claire took to knitting in rehab as a way of keeping her hands occupied.
Wendy Reynolds says:
Loved it all, and the BBC should be commended for making us wait for each episode instead of bingeing, as I usually do. In fact my husband and I have said we may go back and watch the 4 series again. Sarah Lancashire is excellent in everything she does.
Jill says:
If you’d like to see more of the wonderful Sarah Lancashire, I’d recommend ‘the recent TV show Julia’. She was fantastic in the lead role of chef Julia Child, with a great supporting female cast.
Alison Judd says:
I came late to the party but Happy Valkey will leave a huge hole in my Sunday nights. Sundays conclusion more than lived up to expectation sustaining the drama of the storyline but infused with so much compassion and humour. What a role model. Flawed but fabulous and fearless.
Sara says:
Hear, hear to all those celebrating this great series and its undisputedly wonderful main character. Edge of seat stuff on Sunday , no disappointments along the way, only that it’s ended. Again, Sally Wainwright pitched it so well not to let it drift or descend into anything other than excellent by keeping it going past its sell-by date. Back to the beginning now for a re-watch of parts one and two. A while since a TV series was such a unifying event, especially one built around such a strong and competent woman. Sarah Lancashire should win all the awards going.
MaureenC says:
Stunning all the way through. I was so pleased that Catherine and Co beat the Prince Harry interview in the live ratings, thoroughly deserved. Brilliantly written and wonderful casting of actors who look like real people. I hope the BBC start to believe in this kind of drama again proving that people do want to watch faces that look like they have lived not just the young, the beautiful or older plasticised ones.
bev says:
Absolutely wonderful. Inspirational female lead, fully dimensional characters, empathetic, human, gritty and oh so bloody enjoyable. Best programme on TV for years – as well as other Sally Wainwright masterpieces!
Adrienne Wyper says:
I’ve been away for two weeks so I watched the last three episodes last night. Fantastic! Great writing, great acting. I’d like to see a spin-off series of Catherine’s travels in the Himalayas…
Frankie says:
Loved every bit of Happy Valley from start to finish. The best thing on’t telly in yonks. A friend has recently watched the first series for the first time. Bit envious that she doesn’t know what’s coming next in series 2 & 3. Lucky to live in the South Pennines & only 30 min drive away from Hebden Bridge.
Bee says:
I agree about the character strength of Cawood but the violence and emotional trauma of that series is wrong. I stopped watching after a couple of episodes of the first series as I could see where it was going. Friends said they stopped in the second series as it was so threatening and disturbing. In my opinion, we do not need to see such depraved actions as entertainment. There have been many excellent crime series that do not rely on such extremes and they work as they focus on the interplay between characters. I, and many others, are glad it is over and I hope that the BBC do not see this as a format they need to repeat endlessly as they do with everything else. We need to see less femicide, torture, violence against women and men, portrayed as entertainment, it ‘normalises’ it. Our society does not need that.
Thank you for commenting, Bee. There are some quite shocking, violent scenes in the series and I’m certainly not condoning that. What I think Sally Wainwright does well is deal with the consequences, what happens next to the women who have suffered. She creates strong, multi-layered characters, and the dialogue and the lighter moments – particularly between Catherine and her sister – are really wonderful.
Janmike9 says:
Violence and trauma are central to the lives of police officers, first responders, and medical staffs. ‘Happy Valley’ is never gratuitous in its depictions, despite its realistic handling of what these heroes encounter, or can expect, on a daily basis. The tendency to prefer sanitized versions of the extreme experiences those who face and deal with the worst of human behavior would not illuminate their constant exposure to such atrocities, and their ability to return another day with the fortitude to face them again. This is their world, and anyone who thinks these examples of TV violence are ‘threatening and disturbing’ need to step back and realize real people in our real world see much worse, and are largely underappreciated for cleaning the mess the rest of us need never imagine.
This is a show about serious, live-changing trauma, and how living through it is handled by people caught by its grasp; toning down the violence would reduce the trauma and leave its victims without basis for it, IMO. You are lucky you can deal with your trauma regarding the violence of a TV show by not continuing to watch it–while those who willingly expose themselves through duty forge ahead.
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I agree. I was so pleasantly surprised by Happy Valley when I came upon it (here in the U.S.) A woman with agency.
For people who like this series, I highly recommend Viola Davis’s movie The Woman King. There is nothing else like it at the movies. And, among other things, you will be so impressed by the level of fitness the actors achieved.