Happy Valley viewers have all been publicly apologising to Neil Ackroyd, a central character in the hit BBC drama, after several fan theories fell completely flat.
Once again, if you haven’t watched last night’s finale, please walk away now – spoilers lie ahead.
To recap – Neil Ackroyd, played by the brilliant Con O’Neill, made his first Happy Valley appearance in the show’s second series.
He was a recovering alcoholic whose wife had left him, and took up a position working in the local corner shop.
It was there that he met Clare Cartwright (Siobhan Finneran), who is the sister of the drama’s main character Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire).
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The pair quickly strike up a romantic relationship, which carries on throughout the show.
Neil really landed himself in trouble during this final season, when it emerged that he had been taking Ryan to visit his convicted criminal father Tommy Lee Royce in prison – a decision that nearly broke Catherine and Clare’s sisterly bond.
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Clare and Catherine almost fell out for good in this season of Happy Valley, with Neil at the heart of the drama. Credit: BBC
The whole time, he’d seemed like a relatively minor character who just facilitated the relationship between Ryan and his dad.
But it left many fans questioning why he would actually help Tommy – a bona fide Bad Man – to build a bond with Ryan.
Fan theories have been flying around ever since Neil joined the Happy Valley cast, one of which was that he was secretly Tommy’s father.
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Someone else hypothesised: “Tommy is not Ryan’s father after all it’s actually Neil and he was the one who raped Becky all those years ago.”
Another person shared a clip of Neil’s reaction the first time he realised he was dating the sister of a police officer.
But after the series wrapped up at last last night, it turned out that Neil was just a normal bloke after all – albeit a normal bloke with a few brain cells missing.
It’s led to hundreds of viewers publicly apologising to the fictional character.
One person said: “Sorry for talking sh*t about you Neil xoxo.”
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Another said: “A f*ck tonne of us all silently apologising to Neil. Who wasn’t dodgy, or Tommy’s dad.”
One tweet said: “It’s such a Neil thing to do to not be part of any shock twist but just to have been a boring wet lettuce all along.”
A user pointed out: “Can’t believe we were all thinking Neil was Tommy’s dad and he was some kind of criminal mastermind who had planned for years to reconnect Tommy and Ryan when our first introduction to Neil was when he was so drunk he couldn’t get his own jumper on!”
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Well, that’s that then. Sorry Neil.
Featured image: BBC
TV & Showbiz
BRITs 2026 – A (completely subjective) ranking of all the performances from worst to best
Emily Sergeant
The BRIT Awards brought all the action to Manchester last night, including some absolutely stellar performances by huge names.
But who gave the best performance of the night? And who sadly missed the mark?
That’s right – The BRITs landed in Manchester for the first time in its 46-year history, electrifying Co-op Live as part of a two-year deal described as a ‘bold new chapter’ for the legendary event, and there was some incredible live acts performing to celebrate.
Now, before we get into it, this piece right here very much defines what Op-Ed is. This is an article written up based on personal opinion, and should only be viewed in that way. You see, we usually like to remain as impartial as we can on The Manc, and always aim to present things from all perspectives where possible. Often, you’ll even see us referring to ourselves using collective pronouns (as we just did there… and right then too), but right now, it’s time for some first-person pronoun usage – hi, my name’s Emily, and this is my ranking.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of the lucky The Manc Group team members who got to attend the BRITs in person at Co-op Live last night, so I just sat at home watching from the comfort of my sofa while live-reporting on all the winners instead.
That did mean, however, that I got a front-row seat to all of the night’s performances, so I’m arguably *qualified* to rank them all from worst to best… right?
Okay, so here it goes then.
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Honourable Mention
I only feel it’s fair to put this performance into its own category and not include it as part of the full ranking, given the fact that it paid tribute to indisputable rock icon Ozzy Osbourne following his passing last year, and came after he was award the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Rock on, Ozzy.
9. Sombr
Look, I’m sorry to Sombr. I actually am. I don’t even really dislike his music that much, ’12 to 12′ is an undeniable banger (a banger he didn’t perform though, I might add) and for all I know he could be a really genuinely nice lad in real life – but when he gets up on that stage, I just… it’s not for me okay.
Also the fake ‘stage invasion’ wasn’t needed. I know his new song’s called ‘Homewrecker’ but he didn’t perform that one either, so it just didn’t make sense to have it in there.
8. Alex Warren
I have to confess, straight off the bat – this was not as bad as I was expecting it to be.
I mean, I can’t say I’ve ever willingly listened to Alex Warren’s chart-topping song ‘Ordinary’ all the way through before, so I don’t know what exactly I was expecting from it, to be honest, I just wasn’t expecting it to be good… and it wasn’t, but it also wasn’t that bad either, so I respect that.
HUGE shoutout to James Blunt, though – like what the hell? Sure.
7. HUNTR/X (KPop Demon Hunters)
Right, why were they in the car park?
I mean I know ‘why’, it’s for the kids. But imagine being an East Manchester resident just trying to enjoy a quiet Saturday night in, and then all you can hear are three singers reaching excessively high notes outside your house, even when all your doors and windows are closed. Should’ve just let them inside. Song’s a banger though, it genuinely is.
Also, if we’re still doing confessions, I genuinely thought HUNTR/X were an AI band until only a couple of months ago and was truly humbled to find out they weren’t after exclaiming it with my whole chest. Anyway, the more you know. I blame the fact it’s an animated film for fooling me.
6. Raye
I’m expecting to get a bit of backlash on this from all the Raye fans in our office, but this one just didn’t grab me to be honest. It didn’t really distinguish itself from any other Raye performances, and I think I just wanted a bit more?
Cannot fault her talent though. I really can’t.
5. Wolf Alice
Surprisingly, given the type of music and artists everyone who knows me knows I’m a fan of, I’ve never really taken to Wolf Alice a great deal, and I’m not entirely sure as to why either, which feels a little unfair to them. This performance, however, was impressive.
My personal favourite part was when everyone climbed out of the sofa, and also when Ellie was looking dead down the barrel of the camera lens singing on that suspended bridge thing.
I might have to bury whatever non-existent hatchet I seem to have with them, and get to know.
4. Olivia Dean
Olivia Dean was the big winner of the night, hands down (I mean, she won four BRITs so it’s less ‘hands down’, more just facts) and you will never, repeat NEVER, see me tearing her down for that. But I just don’t think her performance of her huge viral hit ‘Man I Need’ here secures her a spot in the top three performances of the night.
This does not mean I didn’t enjoy it though. Oh no, I thoroughly enjoyed every single second of it, and it looks like she did too – and honestly, that’s the main thing. Nothing else matters.
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3. Mark Ronson
Dua Lipa surprise appearance coming down from the ceiling on a disco ball. That’s it, that’s the review.
Okay, to add to it a bit more, I suppose – this was overall a really lovely performance to honour Mark Ronson’s impressive Outstanding Contribution to Music award that he accepted earlier, and was a great retrospective on his illustrious career. The Amy Winehouse tribute was a tear-jerker.
Also, rogue Ghostface Killah appearance in the year 2026. Okay then (Wu-Tang are performing at Co-op Live later this month on their UK tour, so not that ‘rogue’, but we weren’t expecting him here, were we?).
2. Harry Styles
It pains me, physically pains me, that I’ve just had to write out ‘2. Harry Styles’, but unfortunately, he’s just missed out on the top spot.
Less than a week before he takes to the Co-op Live stage in Manchester for one night only next Friday to celebrate the release of his fourth studio album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, our lovely Harry performed lead single ‘Aperture’ to open last night’s BRIT Awards, and it was just joyful to witness from start to finish.
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That white boy’s got a good bit of motion, you can’t take that away from him.
It’s slightly more of a niche thing to praise, but as someone who’s grown up dancing my whole life, the choreography here really is my s**t, and really elevated – if not made – the whole performance.
1. Rosalía
I’ve only just picked my jaw up off the floor.
This was, by far, my most highly-anticipated performance of the night by a country mile, and f**k me did it deliver. It has to be said, while we’re here, that Rosalía’s Lux ended up being my pick for album of the year in 2025 according to our Audio North year-end list, so there may be a little bit of bias in my review, but this was genuinely everything I was hoping it would be and more.
This was Rosalía’s first – and so far, only – performance of ‘Berghain’ live on television since the album was released to universal acclaim this past November, so even if it wasn’t particularly up your street, you still got to witness a hugely important moment.
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The transition to the additional ‘rave’ element once the song had finished really turned it into the sort of thing that could be played in the infamous Berlin club it’s named after. Excellent touch.
Also BJÖRKKKKKKK. Ahhhhhhhh. If you wanted the most genuine re-creation of my reaction when she appeared last night, this was it. “AHHHHHHHH”.
Noel Gallagher’s BRIT Awards acceptance speech in full after on-air censorship
Emily Sergeant
Noel Gallagher was presented with the prestigious Songwriter of the Year Award at the BRITs in Manchester – but fans have been wondering what he said in his heavily-censored acceptance speech.
The Oasis legend took to the stage at the Co-op Live arena to graciously accept the accolade from Primal Scream frontman, Bobby Gillespie.
Audiences both in the venue and watching at home on TV then watched a VT highlighting Noel Gallagher’s career achievements, plus a special pre-recored message by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
But when it was Noel’s turn to speak, ITV bleeped out quite a bit of what he said – a recurring theme throughout the expletive-ridden ceremony.
Thankfully, us lot here at The Manc were in the room itself, so we can tell you what Noel Gallagher actually said in his speech as he accepted his BRIT Award.
“I’m going to start by saying, I’ve got to thank my brother,” – to rapturous applause.
He continued: “Bonehead, Guigsy, Tony McCarroll, Alan White, Gem, and Andy. They brought those songs to life.
“Without them, I’d just be a singer-songwriter, and no one gives a sh*t about singer-songwriters.
“But more importantly I’d like to thank you, the people who have kept our songs alive for the last 34 years.
“You’ve given us the most extraordinary life. Thank you very much for that.
“Have a great night.
“Up the f**king Blues.”
You can see the full list of winners from the BRIT Awards 2026 in Manchester HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
6th February 2023 
