MovieChat Forums > Happy Valley (2014) Discussion > Disgusting, horribly depressing cesspit ...

Disgusting, horribly depressing cesspit of a TV show


From start to finish. Genuinely angered me at times seeing how dim some of the characters were and just how evil others were portrayed.

Sarah Lancashire was phenomenal otherwise. The highlight of a tasteless programme which pretty much tried to out do itself with gutless acts of cruelty as each episode passed.

I hope the high rating is for the actors involved and not the scummy storyline.

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Awww, diddums! Bring back Heartbeat eh?

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It's a crime drama - they're all very much of the same ilk. I don't think it was any more disgusting or depressing than any other similar types of programme.

And the horrible thing is that things like this do, unfortunately, happen in real life.

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Well said OP! It was a pretty sick show really and clearly old Sal had got so bored of writing about Halifax pensioners she decided to cut lose with some good old ultra-violence towards defenceless women. Good 9pm viewing all round! Not.

And just because horrible things happen in real life doesn't mean I want to see it in my living room so that excuse doesn't cut it. Glad I gave up on it when I did.

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And just because horrible things happen in real life doesn't mean I want to see it in my living room so that excuse doesn't cut it. Glad I gave up on it when I did.

And yet guess what? Not everybody likes to bury their head in the sand and pretend the world is unicorns and butterflies like you and the OP. Imagine that! People have opinions that differ from yours! *gasp*
Good thing there's more than enough rosy silly sitcom crap for you to watch. And a few rare good realistic dramas like this one for the rest of us.

For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco

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Just because you don't want to watch something disturbing, doesn't mean you're burying your head in the sand !!

You just have to read the paper or watch the news to see how bad things are but I had to give up because it was upsetting me, but I'm not stupid enough to think this doesn't happen, I know only too well but I don't want to see it thanks.

It was excellent from what I saw, it's just my life is miserable enough so sometimes butterflies & unicorns keep you going.

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And yet guess what? Not everybody likes to bury their head in the sand and pretend the world is unicorns and butterflies like you and the OP. Imagine that! People have opinions that differ from yours! *gasp*
Good thing there's more than enough rosy silly sitcom crap for you to watch. And a few rare good realistic dramas like this one for the rest of us.


Well you're a rather rude troll aren't you 'Ithilfaen'? Why am I 'burying my head in the sand' by describing my disgust at shocking violence in a TV programme and exercising my choice not to watch anymore? You don't know me so I suggest in future you aren't so quick to judge people on the strength of a few words on your computer screen.

I've had awfully violent things happen to me in the past and so don't really wish to have to put up with a woman hostage being raped and beaten and another policewoman being continually driven over. Apparently that makes me a peace-loving hippy in your eyes. I'll return to my commune as soon as I've typed this.

My God I didn't know people had differing opinions to me! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Thanks for opening my eyes to this fact. I really thought everyone would agree with me as I'm always right and this is clearly a dictatorship solely under my rule.
I'm so glad you recommended 'silly sitcom crap' for me to watch. I shall seek out Mrs Brown's Boys boxsets immediately and I hope that reassures you sufficiently dear Ithilfaen...

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Well you're a rather rude troll aren't you 'Ithilfaen'?

This is just idle curiosity on my part, but what makes you say that 'Ithilfaen' is a troll?

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And just because horrible things happen in real life doesn't mean I want to see it in my living room so that excuse doesn't cut it. Glad I gave up on it when I did

It's not an excuse, it's just a comment! I see no reason to make excuses for a well conceived, well written and well acted show.

If you don't want to watch that type of thing then that's totally your choice - it doesn't mean it's a bad programme just because it's not to your liking. Many people enjoyed the show, some didn't but ultimately something more 'nice' is only a remote button click away. For the rest of us, looking forward to series 2.





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And just because horrible things happen in real life doesn't mean I want to see it in my living room so that excuse doesn't cut it. Glad I gave up on it when I did.

Yes, it's a good thing that you decided to change the channel. After all that is why there is more than one available. And you have no excuse to watch something you don't want to see.

"I am allowed to think everyone is stupid for 10 minutes."-- Randy Susan Meyers

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Quite apart from disagreeing with you on other issues, ( calling it a 'sick show' for instance) I would like to point out that there are NO "defenceless women" in this .You should wish to be as strong as the actual kidnap victim , let alone the other women involved. Part of the great value of this series is that there ARE no stereotyped "defenceless women" .

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Who thinks we actually want to consume this crap and enjoy it?


Um, obviously someone does since this "crap" was picked up for a second season.

I've dropped shows because of violent, graphic images (ex American Horror Story's latest season), but I don't have a problem with anyone else watching. I thought this series was exceptionally well done.

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I would like to point out that there are NO "defenceless women" in this .You should wish to be as strong as the actual kidnap victim , let alone the other women involved.


You do talk utter rubbish 'mmsbk'. So you're comparing a fictional character to a real person and claiming I 'wish' to be as strong as anyone in this? Don't make me laugh. You don't know me and don't seem to understand the concept of fiction if you compare fictional characters emotions with people you've never met or even talked to before. I've got plenty of inner strength thanks and certainly more than made-up characters who's lines are fed to them by a writer!

And if for example there are 'no' defenceless women then what are the kidnap victim and the murdered policewoman then? Wasn't the kidnapped woman pretty defenceless being tied up, kept against her will and repeatedly raped? I'd call that pretty defenceless. Just like if that had happened to any man. The very point of being restrained is you ARE defenceless dummy!
And if the policewoman was so kick-ass and not defenceless when being knocked over and then run over repeatedly then why'd she die? Did she suddenly spring up, and attack the kidnapper? No because she'd been knocked out, injured and thus DEFENCELESS as she was a victim of a brutal crime! I rest my case mmsbk. In most crime-fiction there's going to be victims who are defenceless by the very definition of being victims! This genre is not a tricky one to understand but you don't seem to get it...

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And you are a rude and silly person 'spicy demon' ( says it all really ). The term defenceless has quite a different meaning than having something awful happen to you. By definition a police woman is hardly defenceless, and the kidnap victim was immediately proactive as soon as the opportunity arrived .

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Listen mmsbk. You're a stupid brainless idiot. You go on about someones name and have such little creative intellect you have to go by a tedious moniker of mmsbk. Now do f off. And if you can't then listen. Defenceless of course means if something bad happens which injures you so you are unable to fight back. Like I don't know being RUN OVER PERHAPS? So as she was knocked out she is thus DEFENCELESS. Unable to respond. Unable to defend herself when driven over again. Listen lets agree to disagree.

You're being a slow fool to wind me up on purpose I'm sure.

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ultra-violence against women is nothing new. What I LOVED was the ultra-heroics of women in this series! The fact that the girl, after being bound and raped and finally escapes went BACK in order to save a police officer, and that a female police officer went into that hell pit to save her in the first place makes me proud to be a utero-carrying viewer :)



Someone who disagrees with you is NOT a hater 😉

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I'm assuming the OP would be happier watching a "Friends" marathon! Surely you had some idea what the series was about before you started watching it? You knew it wasn't going to be "Heartbeat" or "Only Fools and Horses". Why bother complaining about it? Use that negative energy of yours on a far worthier cause.

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Agree wholeheartedly. Sarah L shines - the story dim, dark and tasteless - gone American have they?

Who thinks we actually want to consume this crap and enjoy it? Please, at least In Bruges had some comic relief.

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isn't that the point of the show? she is trying to stop these sick people it wouldn't be very interesting if they if they were just petty thieves or something

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I agree with the OP. I love crime movies but something about this one actually left me feeling sick. Didn't finish it. I get sick just thinking about it and had to come here to see if I was the only one.

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To the OP: If this show bothered that much, I hope you never see a single episode of "Law & Order", any of the "CSI" series, either version of "The Killing", "Dexter", "Prime Suspect", the "Red Riding" mini-series, "True Detective", "Fargo" (the movie and TV show), "Bates Motel". And for God's sake, stay away from movies like "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (both versions), "Gone Girl", "No Country For Old Men", "Seven", "Silence of the Lambs", etc.

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OP should go home and blow their brains out, clearly they can't handle the reality of the world if a tv show bothers them that much. Stick to Big Bang Theory, kid.

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The lead actress was phenomenal, I agree but the characters were drawn as if by a 6-year-old. I laughed most of my way through. That accountant was just not believable. Just to send his kids to a better school? But what do you expect from a country where they call television "telly" and expect us all in the rest of the world to not laugh. British people think they are the only people on this planet and act like it. Imagine a people who invented the English language and abuse it so badly the rest of the world has to use subtitles to understand what the characters are saying?

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That accountant was just not believable. Just to send his kids to a better school?


It was very clear that Kevin had been harbouring a grudge against Nevison, his father's former partner, for years. Long simmering resentment was his real motivation: a miserably believable motivation at that. In fact, they rather laboured the point. And yet some people still didn't get it....

The rest of your post is gibberish.

Vote Syriza and Podemos!

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The lead actress was phenomenal, I agree but the characters were drawn as if by a 6-year-old. I laughed most of my way through. That accountant was just not believable. Just to send his kids to a better school? But what do you expect from a country where they call television "telly" and expect us all in the rest of the world to not laugh. British people think they are the only people on this planet and act like it. Imagine a people who invented the English language and abuse it so badly the rest of the world has to use subtitles to understand what the characters are saying?


What a truly ignorant post. In fact, it's beyond ignorant, and has sunk to new levels of boorishness.

I'm not British,by the way.

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Just ignore trolls.

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In reply to the OP, (I am not reading the entire thread) I understand the objection and I agree to a point.

Let me first say the writing, acting and production values of Happy Valley are first rate.

But the first three episodes were unrelenting and harrowing. One would need to have been a psychopath to have actually enjoyed it. I stayed with it hoping for the payoff, and thankfully, the last half of the series delivered, at least in part.

Still, I wonder about this sort of thing as entertainment. This is drama not a documentary. If I am being shown people being brutalised, there needs to be a dramatic reason for that. I'm not saying that has to be some kind of religious morality tale, but drama cannot exist in a moral vacuum either.

The first three episodes looked like a sort of pornography; a desire to excite and titillate a lowbrow audience trained on violent videos and American dross. It genuine troubles me to see a writer's work treated this way by a director on some kind of mission for ratings.

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