Happy Valley’s James Norton criticises “ridiculous” posh-bashing of actors

But for their own good I want to appeal to them all, to take them each by the shoulders and turn them towards Happy Valley and say, “There you go, just look at this, this is what television at its best can do and it’s world-beating, it’s brilliant, no other art form can approach it for vision, humour, thrills and just monumentally good storytelling.”

As we reach the penultimate episode of Sally Wainwright’s black comedy/ dark thriller it’s also probably time to stop whispering, “Is this better than series one?” and start shouting “YES, this is better than series one and series one was superb!”

Happy Valley surprises every week. There’s always at least one intellectual blow to the head as Wainwright, who is writing at her peak and at her boldest, goes where no one else dares. Tuesday’s episode is so shocking I stared into space for a little bit afterwards muttering “I can’t believe she did that.” But it’s Sally Wainwright and yes, she did that. I can’t say what, but you will know. Oh yes, you will know.

Happy Valley defies categorisation. It’s probably filed under Crime Drama in the DVD section of HMV, but that little label tells only a tiny part of the story. Happy Valley is about so much more, maybe it’s even about everything.

But Wainwright’s particular skill is of course with character, specifically female characters and with mothers, female friendships, wives and, particularly I think, sisters. Those chats between police officer Catherine Cawood and her sweet, well-meaning, flawed, kind sister Clare (Sarah Lancashire and Siobhan Finneran, who should share every acting award going) are my favourite bits.

The long, silly, serious fractured chats where they sit in the garden, smoking (though I heartily disapprove of smoking, of course), nursing mugs of tea (everyone drinks a lot of tea in Happy Valley) as they tell stories, catch up, joke, laugh, or talk from their hearts. And yes I’m aware of mutterings about supposed mumbling, but I can’t believe a few missed words seriously harms anyone’s viewing pleasure. I must assume that a regular audience of well over six million people wouldn't stick with something they can't hear.

There is tenderness and anger and exasperation in Catherine and Clare’s relationship, demonstrated with great compassion by Wainwright when Clare, a recovering alcoholic and heroin addict, fell off the wagon and got roaring drunk at a funeral. The siblings argued bitterly, saying things neither could take back. Yet Catherine’s instinct to protect was overwhelming, and conquered her fury at Clare’s momentary weakness. They are bound by more than just shared DNA.

There’s so much more to say about Happy Valley — the Hitchcockian levels of black humour surrounding spineless detective John (the peerless Kevin Doyle) and his brutal disposal of his troublesome mistress. Catherine’s struggle to love her grandson, blameless little Ryan, product of Tommy Lee Royce’s rape of her daughter. My heart snaps for Ryan every time Tommy’s barmy religious-fetishist “girlfriend” Frances (Shirley Henderson) twists his emotions.

Yes, there’s so much more to say. But I’ll end with a plea – if you don’t watch it please, please, please do. And if you do – it’s great, isn’t it?War and Peace star James Norton has dismissed arguments that acting in Britain has become the preserve of the posh, describing the criticisms as “ridiculous” and joining the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch and Alexander Armstrong in expressing dismay at the frequent complaint.

Speaking in the latest issue of the Radio Times, Norton says “It’s a real shame […] when you get somebody like Eddie Redmayne, who is such a great ambassador for British drama – two Oscar nominations in two years, it’s extraordinary – and at least half the press coverage on him is about the fact he went to Eton.

“What’s their point? Are they asking him to take that into account and maybe take his foot off the accelerator for a while? It’s ridiculous.”

Norton, who attended Yorkshire’s Ampleforth college and read theology at Cambridge, also discussed his own experiences with such preconceptions, and the wider issues of actors being typecast based on their backgrounds.

“There’s two discussions to be had. One is that producers are afraid of taking risks on actors; they somehow forget that actors are there to transform – it’s kind of the point of what we do,” he says.

“When Happy Valley first came up, I was in South Africa. So I auditioned on tape and sent it off. Which turned out to be lucky, as they didn’t know that I didn’t usually speak in a Yorkshire accent. They probably realised once they did a bit of research, but they took the risk, and I will be forever grateful.

“So many actors aren’t allowed the opportunity to transform because people have so many preconceptions about them and make so many judgements about them, just on the way they speak.

He added: “It’s also true that there’s a lot of period drama done here. Americans love it, we love it, and we’re good at it. Often in these dramas there’s a disproportionate amount of RP [received pronounciation] speakers, so it follows that if there’s a higher amount of period drama, there’s a higher amount of ‘well-spoken’ actors."

James Norton returns to Happy Valley on Tuesday 9th February, while War and Peace concludes this Sunday

The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now