How Sally Wainwrights series evolved from police procedural to psychological study of Catherine Cawood.
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ButHappy Valleywas never a cop show in the eyes of creator Sally Wainwright.
Its about her, and she just happens to be a cop.
woman who seems like she could simultaneously read you your Miranda rights while teaching you to tie your shoes.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Why the long pauses?It was purely to do with other work.
And thenGentleman Jackgot green-lit and that was incredibly hard work.
Also, I always wanted time to elapse for the character of Ryan.
I didnt want to recast Rhys Connah.
But it wasnt just me, Sarah and James were both very busy.
For me that was the only way we could have done it, really.
But you always knew that it was only three seasons?Yeah.
Its about her and she just happens to be a cop rather than it being a cop show.
That being said,Happy Valleywas your second drama with police in it afterScott & Bailey.
The original concept was that thered be ongoing crimes every week, the story of the week.
I think its just me reflecting my perceptions of life as Im experiencing them.
The thing Im writing at the moment is about women of a certain age and menopause.
Youve said that your female characters arrive fully formed in your imagination.
I was also working closely with Lisa Farrand, who was my police adviser onHappy Valley.
She was Catherine Cawood.
So, constructing Catherine was never a battle; she was just kind of there.
Theres also a bit of hero worship for me, too.
Catherine is someone Id like to be and who I never could be because Im just not like that.
Shes like a Marvel hero, but an everyday Marvel hero.
She loves being on the set and is very useful and helpful.
I think she gets a lot out of it and puts a lot into it.
Shes a huge part of the creation of the show.
Was she there through the end of filming?She doesnt come on set every day.
Even things like interview strategies.
We also had a detective adviser, Janet Hudson, who was a retired detective chief superintendent.
She came in to help with the interview techniques when the detectives interview Tommy in series three.
Lets talk about the last episode in some detail.
So it was credible that Ryan is a good thing in his life.
But at the same time, I wanted to try and find some sympathy for Tommy.
And I wanted to push it with Catherine and make her as tough and obnoxious as I could.
To really invert the dynamic.
And I did change it based on what she said.
It wasnt specific notes, it was more just a broad conversation about everything.
And she was really helpful.
The script didnt change massively, it was quite subtle tonal stuff.
Again, it was about getting the balance as right as we could.
But I wanted it to have a definite climactic, cathartic ending.
As a psychopath, he doesnt really think much outside himself.
And he couldnt get over the fact that he didnt know he had a son.
Its the kind of banal, sordid reality of life.
A tiny, tiny chink.
And in that moment, she just wants to do the right thing.
I think its a bit of a battle for her.
But in that last scene, she wanted to save him.
She did want to save him.
