Happy Valley: Compassion, Evil and Exploitation in an Ordinary ‘Trouble Town’

Helen Piper

doi:10.1057/978-1-137-55506-9_13

Happy Valley: Compassion, Evil and Exploitation in an Ordinary ‘Trouble Town’

Helen Piper

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter in a book

2 Citations (Scopus)

164 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Reasoning that class identity is partly a matter of cultural allegiance, this chapter examines how viewing alignment with a fictional protagonist may call upon sympathies, attitudes and values comparable to those which underpin class affiliations. The possibilities of this are demonstrated through close analysis of the series Happy Valley (BBC 2014–) with a particular focus on the moral positioning of its central character, Catherine Cawood, and her role in policing the wider community of a ‘troubled town’. It also explores how this drama reworks one of the more powerful, traditional tropes of the detective story.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Social Class and Television Drama in Contemporary Britain
Editors	David Forrest, Beth Johnson
Publisher	Palgrave Macmillan
Chapter	13
Pages	181-200
Number of pages	19
ISBN (Electronic)	9781137555069
ISBN (Print)	9781137555052
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55506-9_13
Publication status	Published - 13 Jun 2017

Keywords

Social Class
Television Drama
Representation
Happy Valley

Access to Document

10.1057/978-1-137-55506-9_13

Full-text PDF (accepted author manuscript)
This is the author accepted manuscript (AAM). The final published version (version of record) is available online via Palgrave Macmilland at https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/978-1-137-55506-9_13 . Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.
Accepted author manuscript, 773 KB

Dr Helen Piper
- H.L.Piper@bristol.ac.uk
- Department of Film and Television - Associate Professor in Television Studies
- Screen Research
Person: Academic , Member

Cite this

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ER -

Happy Valley: Compassion, Evil and Exploitation in an Ordinary ‘Trouble Town’

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