Review: Happy Valley (2014 -)

Probably one of the best British crime dramas I have ever seen, Happy Valley is anything but happy. It follows a seasoned police sergeant who has been left to bring up her grandson following her daughter’s suicide. Her daughter purportedly took her own life after being raped (resulting in her son) by a man called Tommy – and now he’s out of prison.

Aside from the edge-of-your-seat (in my case, standing on my sofa screaming “HE’S COMING!!!!”) moments, it’s the realism brought by Sarah Lancashire which really sets it apart.

This thriller-crime drama combines a well-researched and realistic view of local UK policing with a truly gripping story-line. I preferred season one to season two, but both are definitely worth a watch.

My rating: 9/10

IMDB rating: 8.5/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 100%

Image sourced from Geograph / Copyright of Tim Leete / Creative Commons Attribution licence (reuse allowed)

Review: People vs OJ Simpson (2016)

The People vs OJ Simpson is an American court room drama. Sound boring? I thought so, until I watched it.

While the case is notorious across the world, those living in the UK tend to be vague on the detail, other than knowing OJ was tried for killing his wife. But there are so many elements to this case, that it’s difficult to get a real sense of how it played out unless you read up on it in great detail… or watch the series.

Unlike most of my recommendations it’s devoid of scare or gore, discounting graphic descriptions of how Nicole Simpson and Ron died. But if you’re a true crime fan you’ll appreciate the worrying picture it paints of the 90s American justice system, and the portayal of an incredibly narcissistic individual and his defence team. An all-star cast,  including David Schwimmer, John Travolta and Cuba Gooding Jr. to name a small few, are a bonus.

When you’re done, I strongly recommend listening to episode seven to 15 of the Real Crime Profile podcast to help you sort fact from fiction.

This is just the first season of the American Crime Story series, so I have high hopes for the ones to follow!

My rating: 6/10

IMDB rating: 8.7/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 96%

Image sourced from Wikipedia / Gerald Johnson / In the public domain