TheUPSIDE

Warning: it would be a crime to miss this

Just one month into 2023 and already the BBC has scored a massive hit with Happy Valley

Despite being absent from our screens for six years, Sally Wainwright’s gripping saga inspired by the deceptively genteel West Yorkshire town of Hebden Bridge has become a national talking point.

There is both suspense and humour; Sarah Lancashire’s performance as Catherine Cawood is mesmerising.

No wonder that, before the opening credits of episode 5, a BBC announcer said: “Lock the door, silence the phone, and nobody speak to me. I’ve been waiting all week. Now, on BBC One, with strong language and scenes which some viewers may find upsetting, the penultimate ever episode.”

Happy Valley will go down as one of the truly great British TV crime shows, alongside such classics as Cracker, Broadchurch and Line of Duty

Warts-and-all way to recall a rock icon

Music fans will need no reminding that the New Year has not been kind to ageing rock stars. Jeff Beck, David Crosby and Television’s Tom Verlaine are no longer with us.

Sky Art’s excellent featurelength documentary on Crosby, Remember My Name, made by AJ Eaton, is essential viewing for anyone interested in the ex-Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash singersongwriter.

Hagiography it isn’t, as this warts-and-all film pulls no punches, but it contains some wonderful archive footage and rare access to one of rock’s most complex characters.

UKTV takes wing with original shows

UKTV continues its upward trajectory under the leadership of CEO Marcus Arthur.

In results announced in January, it was revealed that streaming service UKTV Play grew by 27% last year, adding more than 1 million registered users. Its highest rated show, period crime series Sister Boniface Mysteries (shown on the Drama channel), was seen by 1.3 million viewers.

Across five of UKTV’s services, original commissions – Traces (Alibi), Bangers & Cash (Yesterday), Meet the Richardsons (Dave), Newark, Newark