Happy Valley concludes on BBC One this weekend with the Sally Wainwright series wrapping up once and for all with viewers getting an epic showdown. The series returned after seven years off-screen with Sarah Lancashire and James Norton reprising their respective roles as police officer Catherine Cawood and Tommy Lee Royce. Happy Valley catapulted Norton, 37, into the spotlight with the BAFTA-winning show marking his big breakout.
The new series continues to shine a spotlight on the British star, however, some Happy Valley fans have criticised the show and said Norton is too good-looking to portray the rapist and violent criminal while other audience members swooned over him and declared him the “sexiest psychopath ever”.
In an exclusive interview with professor of criminology at Birmingham City University and former prison governor David Wilson addressed this critique, saying: “It’s just rubbish.
“If it was all based on looks, you could only be a criminal if you were ugly or a psychopath if you were ugly. It just doesn’t make any sense.”
Professor Wilson went on to cite Robert Rimmer, whom Humberside Police were looking for in connection with an ongoing investigation earlier this year.
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“Psychopaths don’t come like that, they’re very well-disguised and often they can be charming and attractive.”
The academic, who is a self-confessed fan of Happy Valley, also praised the depiction of the criminal: “Tommy Lee Royce is a very good example of a psychopath in many respects: a propensity for violence, self-centred, narcissistic, has no real feelings and is ultimately quite a hollow person.”
He said psychopaths were “initially very attractive” and “fun to be around” with a “superficial charm” to them, but eventually people would realise this behaviour was not “how things should be done”.
Interestingly, Professor Wilson also noted there were people like Tommy “walking amongst us”, who were “functioning psychopaths” and the only thing separating them from those behind bars was the fact they hadn’t committed crimes.
Along with his academic work, Wilson also fronts the Channel 4 factual series In The Footsteps of Killers with Silent Witness actress Emilia Fox, which is currently airing.
The compelling series sees Wilson and Fox going back to unsolved murder cases and searching for fresh leads missed during the original investigation.
Among the cold cases in this series include a decades-old investigation focusing on Scotland’s Templeton Woods murderer, another looking at the death of eight-year-old Vishal Mehrotra and the disappearance of Robert Duff.
Professor Wilson said the fascination around true crime was not a new phenomenon and was “normal” and “necessary” with human beings trying to process and understand those committing heinous acts.
Happy Valley concludes on BBC One this Sunday at 9pm
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