Happy Valley: Behind the blue line

Sarah Lancashire, as cop Catherine Cawood, has to deal with the loss of a child, while holding it together in her high-stress job.

Sarah Lancashire plays a policewoman in Happy Valley, but the Brit drama is more about cops’ frailty and humanity, than their jobs.

Part two of compelling British crime drama Happy Valley screens tonight. Living caught up with Sarah Lancashire, who plays police officer and bereaved mother Catherine Cawood.

Is this a cop drama?

I think the tone of the piece changes quite dramatically. Certainly from about halfway through, it becomes clear the story isn't about Catherine's job as a police officer but Catherine trying to find a way to come to peace with herself.

It's interesting because I had no idea how the story was going to unfold. It's not about a police officer at all, it's about a woman who is clearly damaged by her experiences of losing a daughter and being put into a situation where she's trying to get by, day to day. Catherine has an incredibly emotional story, especially episodes four, five and six when it turns into an emotional marathon.

What attracted you to the role?

Sally [writer Sally Wainwright] sent me the script, I read the first episode and emailed straight back saying, "this is amazing, have you got another episode for me to read?", purely for personal reasons. It's always the same with Sally's stuff. I'm a huge fan of her writing as she's a great storyteller.

When you read Sally's scripts, they're not like scripts. They're like transcripts of people's lives and they breathe immediately.

Her words do it for you. You don't have to think about it too much. In fact it's often best to let her writing do it for you. She's top of her game.

Happy Valley is an extraordinary piece and it was not necessarily about Catherine, but her part in the narrative.

What do you like about Catherine?

She doesn't give in, she never will give in. She wants revenge for Becky but is such a diehard police officer doing everything by the book and this is one thing she has to do her way.

But she does it as a mother. I admire the way she does the things she does. They're not always attractive but they're real.

How much role research did you do?

I went out with the police in Calderdale during the day. They didn't want to take me out at night because things change. It was fantastically useful because I'd always imagined these police officers were just people and that's exactly what they are. Lisa [the police advisor] was always on set to help with the procedural stuff. She had a keen eye on making sure everything was accurate.

I did need her there all the time, just for tiny things like putting handcuffs on. In one scene, I deliver bad news to somebody and she said, "Look, it's okay to cry and hug them."

That was a huge relief because it's human nature and your instinct, but it tends not to be how we see that world portrayed.

Do you have greater admiration for police officers now?

I do. One of the most interesting things I learned when I went out with them was how understaffed they are and also that their life can change within five minutes.

We had this incident where we were called to a house where the bailiffs had turned up and needed to take some belongings away. It turned into the filthiest fight and that's when I stayed in the van.

The whole day changed. It's interesting, but it's not for me.

Playing psycho

James Norton plays Tommy Lee Royce

What appealed to you about the character of Tommy?

More than the hair? For any actor, it's a great privilege to play a character that is very distant from yourself. Luckily I'm not a psychopath. Although this is a cop drama, it's not necessarily cop-driven and the characters are at the heart of it. It's totally plausible.

On the page, Tommy comes across as unfeeling but the beauty of the writing is he's so much more than that.

He's as real and as textured as every other character. It's a joy to play someone so complex.

Did you do research for the role?

The production team were wonderful. They put me in touch with a psychologist who works in The Priory in Manchester. He knows a lot about criminal psychology and we had a two-hour meeting all about psychopaths. The biggest challenge was trying to empathise with Tommy and trying to understand his world view.

You think of them as totally cut off and callous, but the truth is they are much more. There are two things: one, they have mis-wiring in the brain, and the other is they have something in their childhood where they've been incredibly vulnerable without any
control, so their whole life is about trying to hold control. They see the world as hostile so they attack before the world attacks them. Every action, however abhorrent, in Tommy's head is necessary to survive.

Have you worked with any of the cast before?

I did work with Charlie Murphy [Ann Gallagher]. When I got the script through I was in South Africa working on North Men, a Viking saga, with Charlie. We got the scripts and I was dressed as a Viking and she was dressed as a Scottish princess and were both discussing Happy Valley. It was great to have her as a friend before we started this, especially with some of the stuff that Tommy does.

Happy Valley screens tonight on TV One at 8.30pm.