The second series of the anything-but-happy Happy Valley, which started last night, opens with a flashback story involving sheep hustling, acid and a failed attempt at ovine euthanasia, told with deadpan humour by police sergeant Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) in head-to-toe black and aviators.
It’s not really an outfit. It’s her off-duty policewoman look, so accidental: black trousers, black T-shirt, black fleece, fag in hand and those epic aviators. Forgettable, except when backdropped by well-kept plants and the drystone walls of Yorkshire, the light-and-shade narrative made real.
The first series was grim but focused less on the nastiness (most of which was off-screen) and more on the juggle between female strength and struggle. Judging by this outfit, this looks set to continue: Cawood is tougher than every brute she encounters, and there are a fair few to contend with. She can overpower most of them, for starters, morally but also physically.
The aviators are also key because it suggests that they are part of police uniform, from NYPD to WYPA (West Yorkshire Police) – at least on TV. They are sort of experiencing a comeback in fashion, too, as worn by model Bella Hadid and Gwyneth Paltrow. Incidentally, a few years ago, some Scottish police were banned from wearing a similar “Top Gun” style at work. Why? Because they were deemed too intimidating.
