I have great respect for American shows such as SVU and Blue Bloods. They give suspense, grief, pathos, laughter, joy, family love, the whole emotional spectrum, generated on a weekly basis. But after getting that complete spectrum also from series one of Happy Valley, albeit over six hours rather than forty minutes, it's fair to say that I was smacked in the face by the pre-title sequence of episode one of series two. It had me laughing out loud (which seldom happens while watching a programme), then straight back into sheer suspense. There is a quality here, also seen in shows from other countries such as Canada, which the USA has lost, possibly because of the factory pressures of Hollywood. Maybe it can be found again, but for now, for me, quality drama comes from east of the Atlantic.
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