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
Amazon Prime Video release trailer for Man United’s treble documentary, ’99’
Danny Jones
Just a fortnight on from Manchester City releasing their trebledocumentary on Netflix, Manchester United have issued a timely reminder that they did it first by releasing a trailer for their own on Amazon Prime Video.
Oh, we’re about to enjoy some serious online debate and not at all petty social media spats over the next few days. Play nice, everyone…
Simply entitled 99, the new documentary series from fellow streaming giants Amazon will cover Man United‘s hallowed 1998/99 season, where they became the first-ever English club in history to win a treble and went down as one of the greatest teams in football history.
Considered the holy trinity of trophies in Europe – winning the first division in your country, the main domestic cup and the Champions League – the true ‘continental’ treble has only ever been completed by eight teams and the Red Devils are clearly looking to capitalise on the same media buzz as City.
Official Trailer: 𝟗𝟗
The story of Man Utd’s remarkable treble-winning season in 1998/99, told by those who were part of it.
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) April 16, 2024
The first trailer for Amazon’s upcoming documentary about Man United’s treble season?
While Man City are still well and truly basking in the glory of achieving the incredible footballing feat, with the possibility of defending all three titles still very much on the cards,
There have been multiple productions celebrating United’s lifting that same trio of trophies in the past, from The Treble season review film released in 1999 itself to the likes of The Impossible Dream released on its 20th anniversary in 2019 and others, but this latest is set to be the comprehensive look yet.
Showing “never-before-seen footage” and featuring the stories “told by those who were there – including David Beckham, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Peter Schmeichel, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and more. documentary” – it promises to serve as the “definitive documentary” of United’s treble season.
Naturally, there’s already plenty of discussion rearing its head over which team was more impressive.
Winning a treble with an entire team you built from scratch including 6 academy players. Tell me again SAF isn’t the goat. https://t.co/VisMWD7vzc
City Won The Treble last year but Guess who is having another documentary made about a 25 years old achievement… Manchester United.. no trophy to celebrate but this one we will stream and enjoy well https://t.co/uqu844liGy
Amazon has scheduled 99 for a 17 May release date, just over a month and a half on from City releasing Together: Treble Winners, not to mention dropping the trailer itself barely a fortnight after the fact.
Although many have been quick to point out that the docuseries omits any discussion of their ongoing FFP charges – with Paddy Power even spoofing it as a Netflix true crime drama – it has received largely positive reviews for its fly-on-the-wall look at one of the best teams in the world.
Set to be fittingly spread over three parts, 99 is also being co-created by three different parties: Ventureland, Gary Neville’s production company, Buzz16.2, and David Beckham’s Leigh-based production house, Studio 99.
The latter were obviously heavily involved in the recent Beckham Netflix series, so fans of that can expect similar vibes from Amazon’s documentary on United’s own treble season and the momentous year that was 1999.
Eurovision 2024 final to be screened live in cinemas across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
The grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest is to be screened live in cinemas across Greater Manchester next month.
Following the success of the first-ever live streams of Europe’s biggest party onto the big screen when it was held on British soil in Liverpool last year, cinemas up and down the UK are set to come together once again to celebrate 2024’s edition of the major night in the music calendar by hosting the ultimate viewing events.
The epic Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final on Saturday 11 May will be broadcast live on BBC One, and streamed into more than 100 cinemas nationwide – including several in Greater Manchester.
Hosted by CinemaLive, the live stream events will allow Eurovision fans to gather under one roof and be “united by music” to share in the unbeatable experience of celebrating the brightest and boldest music party of the year on the big screen.
Eurovision 2024 final to be screened live in cinemas across Greater Manchester / Credit: Cinema Live | Krists Luhaers (via Unsplash)
You may remember that Sweden is hosting Eurovision this year, following the Scandinavian country’s well-deserved victory at the 2023 contest with the song ‘Tattoo’ performed by Loreen.
But thanks to these live stream events, you won’t need to make the trip to Malmö to get in on the action, as you’ll just need to nip down to your nearest participating cinema instead.
Not only will the long-awaited final of the show be streamed live onto the big screen in 5.1 surround sound, but fans are invited to bring their Eurovision parties from the front room to the cinema instead, as organisers say fancy dress is “heavily encouraged” as are enthusiastic sing-alongs too.
The Eurovision Grand Final will be in Cinemas on May 11, 2024! Get your tickets now! https://t.co/4KBeOZ6DT7
Speaking ahead of the event next month, John Travers from distributors CinemaLive, said: “We’re delighted to be working with the BBC to bring Eurovision’s grand final live into cinemas across the UK for the second year in a row.
“We want audiences to enjoy themselves, so come along in groups, get your fancy dress on, and join together to enjoy this incredible occasion on the big screen”.
Tickets are now live and available to book at your local cinema here.
Some of the participating Greater Manchester cinemas include Vue Manchester Printworks, Everymans in Manchester city centre and Altrincham, The Light in Stockport, and Cineworld in Didsbury, among others.
Daisy Jackson -
6th February 2023 
