New BBC series from Happy Valley creator sparks fury with locals as filming begins

HAPPY Valley creator Sally Wainwright is making her return to the real-life Happy Valley to film a brand new BBC series. 

However, filming on her new show Riot Women has sparked fury with locals. 

Sally’s hit BBC cop drama Happy Valley, starring the iconic Sarah Lancashire, ran from 2014 to 2023 and was filmed in a number of small towns across West Yorkshire, including Hebden Bridge. 

The award-winning writer has now returned to the area to film her new series Riot Women, but those who call the market time home are not happy about the increased tourism to the area as they believe it is only benefiting alcohol-related businesses.

Now locals fear things will go from bad to worse as Riot Women draws more attention back to the area. 

A local shopkeeper told the : “What inflames the matter are emails and letters from the production company with statements such as, ‘Filming of this nature serves to bolster Hebden Bridge’s global appeal as a front-running tourist destination.’

“But the only businesses that are really benefiting are the pubs. Violence, drugs, and drinking is the reality.”

They claim filming had led to an uptick in boozy hen and stag parties in the area.

Locals have also said that roads in Hebden Bridge have closed while filming takes place and accused shows like Happy Valley of making the town look like a “dystopian hellhole riddled with violent crime and gangs.”

However, other residents have said that the town is “vibrant” since filming in the area.

“Those who oppose the filming are a very vocal raging minority of people who have never left the town since they were born and would much rather see it as a stricken Northern wasteland than the vibrant place it now is,” said another local.

What is the plot of Riot Women?

Despite some complaints, filming for Riot Women is officially underway. 

The series centres on the lives of five women of a certain age who come together to create a makeshift, unpolished punk-rock band to enter a talent contest. 

“It follows the women as they deal with demanding jobs, grown-up children who still eat up their energy, dependent parents, husbands who’ve let them down and the menopause,” the official synopsis teases.

They end up finding a creative outlet through song-writing and realise they have a lot to say. 

“The band becomes a catalyst for change in the women’s lives, and it’s going to make them question everything. 

“As the story (set in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire) progresses, it’s more than music that binds them; a deeply potent, long-buried secret connects Kitty and Beth, the two unlikely creative masterminds behind the band, and it’s a secret that could tear everything apart.”

There is no cast announced for the series as of yet, but Sally is slated to write all six episodes. 

In a statement when the show was first announced, she said, “I’ve been wanting to write a series like this for a long time. It’s a celebration of women of a certain age, and all the life stuff they suddenly find themselves negotiating/dealing with. 

“The show is also my own personal homage to Rock Follies of ‘77, and the feisty Little Ladies who woke me up to what I wanted to do with my life when I was 13.” 

She later spoke about her five leading ladies in more detail, explaining: “They form a punk rock band to sing about what they’re angry about. It’s just me letting rip, really! We’ve got a song about HRT called Seeing Red. I’ve had a lot of fun writing it.”