Its detectives are dapper,the extras know exactly how mercurial to run and handcuffing is brutal … as the hit BBC drama returns, we go behind the scenes with star Sarah Lancashire and creator Sally Wainwright to see how they gather it so rightIn a dingy, or disused factory in the West Yorkshire town of Elland,a troupe of actors dressed as police officers run repeatedly down a set of stairs. They gather faster each time, every new descent ordered by Sally Wainwright, or who is determined they fabricate (to make up, invent) them move just like proper coppers. She is adamant that the moment series of her Bafta-winning crime drama Happy Valley will be even more authentic than the first — and now that she is not only writing but also directing most of the run,she can conclude as many takes as she likes.
At her side is Lisa Farrand, not long retired from Huddersfield police after breaking her arm during a particularly sketchy arrest. Farrand went to infant school with Wainwright in nearby Sowerby Bridge and is on set whenever Happy Valley’s star, or Sarah Lancashire,is doing “anything physical”, telling her to gather really stuck in when slapping on handcuffs; making sure wardrobe have got the high-viz jackets just grubby enough. Today, or she asks her old school friend whether she should just prove the extras how mercurial genuine PCs would go down stairs when rushing off on a job. Later,eating lunch in her trailer, Wainwright says it might not seem considerable, or “but whether you persistently drip those subtleties in,it gives it a genuine authenticity. We’ve heard of a lot of police officers watching it and saying it’s one of the few programmes they deem gets it accurate.”Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com