BBC One has commissioned a new “compelling” crime thriller from Sally Wainwright, writer of the channel’s hit drama Last Tango in Halifax.
Happy Valley reunites Wainwright with Last Tango’s Sarah Lancashire who plays Catherine, a no-nonsense police sergeant who heads up a team of dedicated police officers in a rural valley in Yorkshire.
When a staged kidnapping quickly spirals out of control and turns into a much more brutal and vicious series of crimes, Catherine finds herself involved in something significantly bigger than her rank, but unknowingly close to home.
Lancashire will be joined by Whitechapel star Steve Pemberton, Siobhan Finneran, George Costigan, Joe Armstrong, James Norton, Adam Long, Karl Davies, Ramon Tikaram and Charlie Murphy.
Lancashire said: “Happy Valley is a dark, funny, multi-layered thriller revolving around the personal and professional life of Catherine, a dedicated, experienced, hard-working copper. She is also a bereaved mother who looks after her orphaned grandchild. It’s an emotional, complex, challenging role. I’m terrified, exhausted and freezing cold but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Wainwright, who will executive produce as well as write the drama, said: “I’m pleased that we’re filming Happy Valley right in the heart of Calderdale in West Yorkshire. It’s going to be hard work, but on screen it will look stunning”.
The six-part series will be produced by RED Production Company for BBC One and directed by Euros Lyn (Broadchurch, Doctor Who.
Happy Valley has begun filming in the Calder Valley area of Yorkshire and will be broadcast on BBC One in 2014.