Review: Happy Valley (S2 E2/6), Tuesday 16th February, BBC1

(C) Red Productions – Photographer: Ben Blackall

Happy Valley got off to a rip-roaring start last week with our heroine, Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire), plunged into a new vortex of hellishness when she was accused of the brutal murder and sexual mutilation of her nemesis Tommy Lee Royce’s mother, Lynn Dewhurst. It was something new for Catherine – her identity and persona questioned to the point where cracks had started to show in her previously impenetrable armour. It was just a case of what else could or would happen to further undermine her. As it turned out, lots.

NB: This is a review and there’ll be talk of plot and all that jazz. Beware.

Interview: Clive Bradley, Trapped

(C) RVK Studios – Photographer: Unkown

Icelandic drama Trapped enjoyed a stunning and critically-acclaimed start on Saturday night, with two episodes that set up a fascinating whodunit story in a coastal community that had been cut off from the rest of the island thanks to a world-ending snow storm. It had all the ingridients you want from a taut mystery thriller – a closed, one-location set-up, (litreally) boat-loads of suspects and some excellent characters with real emotional depth. Oh, and it was Icelandic. One of the more surprisong things about Trapped is that one of its main writers is Clive Bradley, an Englishman. We managed to catch up with Clive to talk about the show and how he got involved with something so… Icelandic. It makes for a fascinating read. 

Transmission dates for Grantchester, Thirteen and Murder confirmed

And the top-quality crime dramas just keep on coming. It has been chock-a-block since the turn of the year and, as hardy perennials like Midsomer Murders and Death In Paradise shuffle off into the middle-distance, new series are starting up. At the end of this month there are three new crime dramas of note, and one of them has the potential to be something very special indeed.