Happy Valley


Sally Wainwright on directing, delegating and drawing women behind the lens

British writer-director Sally Wainwright, creator of Happy Valley and Gentleman Jack, is one of the few creative talents who can pursue whatever projects she likes. But as she tells Manori Ravindran, you can’t afford to be too complacent in this industry. Sally Wainwright, one of the UK’s pre-eminent writers, will be thinking long and hard […]

‘Happy Valley’ set to return with Lookout Point

Happy Valley creator and writer Sally Wainwright has confirmed that the gritty drama starring Sarah Lancashire will return for a third series, with Les Miserables producer Lookout Point on board.  The BAFTA-winning Wainwright tells TBI that the BBC Studios-owned prodco, which also produced her latest drama Gentleman Jack for BBC One and HBO, will be […]

Different shades of Red: Nicola Shindler one-on-one

Nicola Shindler is surely the most well known drama producer from Manchester, England, with a credits list including Queer as Folk, Last Tango in Halifax and Happy Valley. She tells Jesse Whittock about finding the perfect story and whether she could produce in the US Think of the most influential producers in the UK in […]

BBC, HBO order Wainwright drama

The BBC and HBO have co-commissioned an eight-part drama from scribe Sally Wainwright about the life of 19th century landowner Anne Lister. Shibden Hall is set in Britain’s Industrial Revolution, following the unlikely story of Anne Lister, a real-life Halifax industrialist who dressed like a man and planned to marry a wealthy woman as part […]

Netflix sets sights on more British originals

Netflix is set to ramp up its British production efforts, with co-production deals in place with the three main UK terrestrial broadcasters. Speaking at the RTS London Conference yesterday, Netflix’s chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, said that Netflix had already had global success with the UK shows it has licensed for its service and claimed […]

Showcase: BBCWW on dramatic crime spree

Broadcasters around the world have acquired premium crime drama programming from UK-based BBC Worldwide this week. The deals total more than 900 hours of programming, and comes as 700 international buyers descend on Liverpool, England, this week for the annual BBC Worldwide Showcase event. In France, Canal+ has acquired season four of Luther (pictured), season […]

South African SVOD service buys BBCWW shows

South African subscription on-demand platform MTN FrontRow has acquired BBC Worldwide shows Sherlock and Planet Earth through a deal with rights broker Vubiquity. The deal also includes crime drama Luther, period drama Call the Midwife, documentary series Africa and children’s shows such as Charlie and Lola. Orphan Black, Ripper Street, Happy Valley, Top of the […]

BBC Worldwide notches sales as Showcase opens

BBC Worldwide has announced a raft of sales as its Showcase event gets underway in Liverpool, England. The commercial arm of the UK pubcaster flagged 700 hours of drama sales. Broadcasters in Western Europe accounted for 121 hours of the total with sales highlights including German pubcasterWDR buying a drama package including The Game, Happy […]

Sweden’s SVT goes on UK drama buying spree

SVT has acquired a raft of UK drama titles. The Swedish public broadcaster has acquired Happy Valley from BBC Worldwide and new period drama Grantchester (pictured) from Shine International among other titles. Happy Valley, which is produced by Studio Canal-owned UK producer Red Production Company, follows a female police officer whose daughter has been murdered. […]

Netflix acquires UK drama Happy Valley

Netflix has acquired Happy Valley and will launch the gritty UK drama on its US and Canadian streaming service. The six-part show, which is made by Red Production Company and aired on the BBC in the UK and follows a female police officer whose daughter has been murdered. Red Production is now owned by Studio […]