Everything to Remember From 'Happy Valley's Landmark Debut Season

Nine years ago, Sergeant Catherine Cawood burst onto our screens, chirpily and snarkily trying to dissuade someone from setting themselves alight on a council estate. Since then, things have gotten a lot more dark, traumatic, and emotionally tense for the West Yorkshire police detective, all triggered by the release of Tommy Lee Royce, who raped her daughter Becky, caused her suicide, and eventually learns that Becky gave birth to their child while he was in prison for a different sentence.

Sally Wainwright’s gripping, era-defining British police drama was a landmark procedural that had us hooked from the first episode – before Season 3 airs later in May on Acorn TV, here’s everything that went down in Season 1.

Catherine (Sarah Lancashire) lives with her recovering drug addict sister Clare (Siobhan Finneran) and her grandson Ryan (Rhys Connah) in Calder Valley, Yorkshire – a sleepy town gripped by a drug problem and enough miscreants to keep the small police force busy. Her ex-husband, Richard (Derek Riddell), is a modest journalist, and it’s clear something was irreparably broken when Becky killed herself, especially apparent in the way that Richard and the rest of Catherine’s family still can’t seem to face Becky’s son, Ryan. Still, it doesn’t stop Catherine and Richard from covertly sleeping together behind his new wife’s back.