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
Channel 4 to air exclusive new documentary about the disappearance and death of Lancashire teen Jay Slater
Emily Sergeant
An exclusive new documentary taking an inside look at the the disappearance of Jay Slater is coming to Channel 4.
On the morning of 17 June 2024, 19-year-old Jay Slater – an apprentice bricklayer from the Lancashire town of Oswaldtwistle – disappeared on the island of Tenerife in Spain, after attempting to walk 14 hours back to his accommodation when there was no local taxi service available and no bus due for 90 minutes.
From then commenced one of the biggest missing persons cases in recent British history.
As the world’s media were following the story minute by minute last summer, producers at Channel 4 were in the incredibly-unique position where they had access to the Coronial process in Lancashire, and this has led to the exclusive documentary title The Disappearance of Jay Slater.
From Jay’s post-mortem to Jay’s inquest, the team have been with the family every step of the way over the last year, as they try and understand exactly what happened to Jay outside of the public gaze
Jay was ultimately pronounced dead on 15 July 2024 after Spanish police reported the discovery of a body in the vicinity of the area of interest, but before this discovery and eventual announcement, the internet became awash with public discourse, conspiracy theories, and more.
The Disappearance of Jay Slater is described as being ‘the family’s story’.
Channel 4 will air an exclusive new documentary about the disappearance and death of Lancashire teen Jay Slater / Credit: GoFundMe
The documentary is set to follow them as they search for answers about what happened to Jay, witnessing the conspiracy theories raging online and the subsequent horrific abuse they received as a family – which is an hourly onslaught that continues to this day.
These cameras were the only media in the world granted full access to film both Jay’s post-mortem and inside the church at his funeral.
But the broadcaster claims this documentary is not only the story of Jay’s tragedy, it’s also the story of ‘the new world we live in’ where so-called true crime armchair detectives run wild.
“The story of Jay Slater captured the nation last summer with a fervour and intensity fuelled by armchair detectives and internet culture,” commented Channel 4’s Commissioning Editor, Rita Daniels, ahead of the documentary airing.
“We are so glad to be working on a sensitively handled exploration of the family’s experience, and understanding the impact of being in the middle of a social media storm, amplified by grief.
“The film holds a light up to our current society and is exactly the story that is a necessity for Channel 4 to tell.”
Executive Producer Anna Hall added: “It is appalling what has happened to Jay’s family, and we hope this film will help to bring awareness of the real life consequences of online speculation. It is an unmonitored world where fake news runs rife, and this film shows the devastating impact this has had on one grieving family.”
The Disappearance of Jay Slater is expected to air on Channel 4 later this year, but no official dates have been confirmed as of yet, so keep your eyes peeled.
Featured Image – GoFundMe
TV & Showbiz
TikTok star turned pop star Addison Rae announces gig in Manchester
Thomas Melia
Viral TikTok star and now recording artist, Addison Rae, has announced her first-everheadline European tour, where she’ll be paying Manchester a visit, and tickets go on sale this week.
After launching into the music scene back in 2021 with pure pop single, ‘Obsessed’, Addison made her pop star intentions very clear.
Since then, Addison has gone on to work with high-profile artists such as Charli XCX, who appears as a feature on track ‘2 Die 4’ taken from her first EP, ‘AR’.
Addison also contributed to the inescapable phenomenon of last year that was ‘Brat Summer’, appearing on the aforementioned A-list artist’s Brat remix album, on a reworking of the hit ‘Von Dutch’.
With more than 88.5 million followers on TikTok alone and north of 35 million on Instagram, it goes without saying that her legions of ‘Sunraes’ (yes, a real term used by some in the community) will be lining up to get tickets to her UK tour dates.
Now the singer is ready to take the world by storm, confirming a US and European tour following the release of her debut album, simply titled Addison.
This LP, which features standouts like smash single ‘Diet Pepsi’, ‘Aquamarine’ and ‘Fame Is A Gun’, has been met with rave reviews from fans and critics alike.
The fledgling 24-year-old American-born pop star is a big fan of the UK, so much so that one of the singles from this very debut album, ‘Headphones On’, includes a music video dedicated to frozen food retailer Iceland.
See for yourself…
Addison Rae is set to bring ‘The Addison Tour’ – her first on the continent and here in Britain and Ireland – to Manchester Academy on 30 August, with general admission going on sale this Friday, 20 June.
So, if you’re a fan, get ready to grab yours HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
6th February 2023 
