Happy Valley: Hit BBC One Drama to Premiere in the US Exclusively on Netflix

Netflix has scored another British TV exclusive. This time “the world’’s leading Internet TV network” is bringing the hit BBC One crime thriller Happy Valley to its subscribers in the US and Canada.

Hailed as “something truly unmissable” (The Guardian) and “one of the best watches of 2014” (The Telegraph), Happy Valley was the “word-of-mouth hit” (Radio Times) that recently netted nominations for a TV Choice Award for Best Drama and a Programme Choice award at the Edinburgh TV Festival, as well as gave the BBC an unprecedented 92.5 audience appreciation rating. And soon the taut and gripping thriller will be screening on this side of the pond.

Happy Valley stars Sarah Lancashire (Last Tango in Halifax, The Paradise) as Catherine Cawood, a dedicated and hard-working police sergeant in suburban Yorkshire who is still grieving the death of her daughter.

For Catherine, mourning takes on a life of its own in the form of a personal crusade when she learns that Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton, Death Comes to Pemberley) — the man she holds responsible for her daughter’s suicide — has been released from prison, and she makes it her mission to get him off the streets and back into jail before he hurts someone else.

At the same time, underappreciated milquetoast account Kevin Weatherill (Steve Pemberton, Whitechapel) is in desperate need of a pay raise so he can send his daughters to private school. When his wealthy boss Nevison Gallagher (George Costigan, Scott & Bailey) refuses, Kevin snaps and concocts a plan that will give Nevison the comeuppance and himself the money that he believes they both deserve.

But in enlisting the help of Ashley Cowgill (Joe Armstrong, Robin Hood), a local criminal for whom the dangerous and unpredictable Tommy has been working, the kidnap plot soons spiral out of control.

Catherine is also nearing the breaking point, especially following the death of a colleague, personal matters involving her ex-husband Richard (Derek Riddell, Frankie) and young grandson, and a violent incident that leaves her fighting for her life.

Written by the BAFTA-winning Sally Wainwright (“Last Tango in Halifax,” “Scott & Bailey”), the six-part Happy Valley costars Siobhan Finneran (Downton Abbey) as Catherine’s sister Clare Cartwright, Sophie Rundle (The Bletchley Circle) as fellow cop Kirsten McAskill, Charlie Murphy (Love/Hate) as Nevison’s daughter Ann, Jill Baker (The Broker’s Man) as Nevison’s wife Ann, and Adam Long (Waterloo Road) as Ashley’s sidekick in crime Lewis Whippey.

Happy Valley makes its stateside debut on 20 August 2014, exclusively at Netflix.

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