'Happy Valley proves TV can cover rape and misogyny without making abuse sexy'
Happy Valley is sure to win every award a television show can this year, thanks to an emotional and gripping final season, but the BBC crime drama deserves credit elsewhere too.
Three series of Happy Valley has seen Sally Wainwright not only create a nail-biting, tense and - at times - funny crime drama, but also gifted us one of the few programmes to candidly and compassionaly tell a rape victim’s long and complicated story rather than just broadcast their trauma in the name of ‘art’.
Happy Valley certainly isn't the first piece of media to tackle rape and sexual abuse, but it's hard to immediately think of a fictional series that centres around a rapist or abuser without ever resorting to gratuitous graphic scenes to show the severity of their crimes.
Game of Thrones was routinely slammed for excessive scenes showing female characters being raped, while Jamie Dornan ’s portrayal of psychopath Paul Spector in The Fall was accused by some of glamourising sexual violence against women.
But in Happy Valley, Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) is never shown carrying out depraved sexual violence on screen yet viewers know exactly how evil and twisted he is, thanks to the series instead choosing to highlight the lifelong impact being raped can have on victims and survivors.
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Tommy Lee Royce's twisted crimes were revealed to viewers without the need for potentially triggering scenes (BBC/Red Productions)"Television has a huge influence on societal attitudes towards abuse. All too often, they promote unhealthy, misogynist views of violence against women and girls by presenting crimes as titillating or even glamourous," Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid explains.
"Women’s Aid consults with many production companies on scripts with domestic abuse storylines and we welcome anyone making efforts to depict the true impact of such acts: this includes severe, often lifelong, mental health implications for survivors.
"There is nothing sexy about abuse, and everyone has a part to play in bringing about the day when these crimes are seen as completely intolerable."
Ann's life is still impacted from the abuse she experienced several years ago (BBC)In the first series of Happy Valley, viewers realise Tommy has raped his captive Ann Gallagher without the use of any graphic scenes, thanks to the drama instead focusing on the victim's emotional trauma and the rapist's male associates' uncomfortable reaction to his heinous crime.
Fast-forward to series three and Happy Valley fans learn that almost ten years on, Ann (Charlie Murphy) is still not fully recovered mentally from the past physical abuse of her body.
"[Tommy] is a psychopath Ryan. He is incapable of relationships. The only relationship he has got is with himself inside his crippled little head," the police officer yelled at her teenage nephew in a heart-wrenching scene during the show's penultimate episode.
Happy Valley focused on Ann's long and complicated recovery rather than airing gratuitous rape scenes (BBC/Lookout Point/Matt Squire)Ann’s happily married to her mentor's son, thriving in her career and has a strong support network surrounding her, yet Tommy’s existence in the same world as her can still send the detective spiralling and remembering how he violated her all those years ago.
While many fans predict Ryan will put a stop to his dad’s reign of terror to an end this evening - and even more hoping Catherine gets revenge for her late daughter during her final showdown with Tommy - plenty of victims of sexual abuse will be hoping Ann is the one to end the life of the man who plagued her own with trauma.
*Women’s Aid is a grassroots federation working together to provide life-saving services in England and build a future where domestic abuse is not tolerated. You can email them on [email protected] or access help via their live chat feature on their website. Women’s Aid is not an emergency service. If you think you might be in danger, call the police immediately on 999.
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