The West Yorkshire police officer who has advised the cast of hit BBC drama Happy Valley on all three of its successful series says Sarah Lancashire’s Sergeant is so authentic ‘I’d have worked with her any day of the week.’
Lisa Farrand, 60, from Kirklees in West Yorkshire, was a police officer for 30 years before she retired and has worked alongside Lancashire, 58, on the latest series of Sally Wainwright’s hit BBC One series.
Lancashire plays Sergeant Catherine Cawood, a no-nonsense officer whose personal life and professional life are uncomfortably meshed – thanks to psychopath Tommy Lee Royce, played by James Norton.
The second episode of the third series airs this evening; the show has been well received by critics and viewers alike.
The second episode of the third series of BAFTA-winning Happy Valley, written by Sally Wainwright, is currently airing on BBC One
Mother-of-two sons and now also a great-grandmother, Farrand, who’s married to former police constable Richard, 62, has consistently worked closely with the show’s makers and actors, teaching them everything from authentic hand-cuffing of criminals to authoritative door knocking.
She told The Sunday Times she’d told Lancashire to bash on doors like she means it, saying she told the star: ‘Sarah, you’re not selling Avon. You need to go and knock on the door so he knows that you’re there. And don’t engage him in dialogue on the doorstep: as soon as he opens the door, you make your way in and take control.’
Ex WPC Lisa Farrand, 60, from Kirklees, has advised the cast on storylines and dialogue since the first series
Lisa now works as a police adviser on television programmes and says the aggression shown on screen in Happy Valley is true to life. Right, pictured in 2014 with actress Sarah Lancashire at a television awards ceremony
Retired former West Yorkshire WPC Lisa Farrand, pictured on the set of the second series of Happy Valley, has advised the cast and crew behind the police drama
While in service, Farrand, who didn’t join the police force until she was 26, was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Police Medal…and was once almost run over by a group of young Asian men after the Bradford riots in 2001.
She said that the levels of aggression show on screen were accurate, and that ‘the uniform doesn’t protect you one iota, particularly today when people have been taking drugs, or alcohol-induced.’
An old schoolfriend of Wainwright’s, she said in 2013 that she asked the writer ‘if she’d been following me around when she wrote the part of Catherine!’
She added: ‘But I think so many police women who joined the service at a certain time will see elements of themselves in her character.’
A host of familiar faces joined the final series, including Game of Thrones star Mark Stanley and former Coronation Street actress Mollie Winnard, who play a married couple.
The pair lead a subplot about domestic violence as Stanley plays controlling PE teacher Rob Hepworth, who padlocks the fridge and beats his wife Joanna, who is addicted to diazepam.
The first episode of the series saw Sarah’s character discover the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir, sparking a chain of events leading back to her former nemesis and the father of her grandson Ryan, played by Rhys Connah.
Among the 4.92 million viewers watching, one fan wrote on Twitter: ‘Happy Valley is just brilliant TV isn’t it. The writing, the casting, the acting, it’s just phenomenal. TV Drama at its best.’ (Pictured: James Norton as Tommy Lee Royce)
‘Sarah Lancashire is a GODDESS!’ Happy Valley fans lauded the ‘sensational’ BBC crime drama as it returned for its third and final series on New Year’s Day, after a seven year break
Talented: After the first episode aired, viewers and critics alike heaped praise upon ‘goddess’ Sarah, as well as her co-star James Norton (pictured) and writer Sally Wainwright
Critics have praised the third series. In the Telegraph’s five-star review, critic Anita Singh said: ‘TV drama doesn’t get much better than this.’
Despite four stars in The Independent, it was dubbed ‘one of British television’s greatest sagas’ while the Daily Mail’s Christopher Stevens commended James’ ‘superbly menacing’ performance as villain Tommy Lee Royce.
Among the 4.92 million viewers watching, one fan wrote on Twitter: ‘Happy Valley is just brilliant TV isn’t it. The writing, the casting, the acting, it’s just phenomenal. TV Drama at its best.’
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