The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Apocalypse wow and plot thickens in Happy Valley
THE LAST OF US
Praising The Last Of Us as the greatest video game adaptation ever is a bit like giving a prize for the world’s shortest giant.
It’s not like its forbears (an inauspicious bunch of duds that includes Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Bros and Tomb Raider) offer much competition.
What is impressive is in an increasingly crowded landscape, this grim postapocalyptic drama stands out as one of the best currently on television.
The set-up will be familiar to anyone with a passing interest in horror. Set a couple of decades after a zombie uprising – they’re called “the infected” – The Last Of Us hits a number of touchstones we expect from the genre but spins them in unexpected ways.
Whereas series like The Walking Dead had an unapologetically schlocky sensibility, complete with surprise deaths and cliffhangers, this series takes the collapse of the world very seriously.
Traversing the zombie wasteland from Boston to Wyoming are Joel (Pedro Pascal), a dad who lost his daughter during the early days of the disaster, and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a mysterious 14-year-old who may be key to the saving of the human race. The scale of the series, with toppled skyscrapers and abandoned cities, is staggering and by far out-apocalypses anything on The Walking Dead.
But as anyone who gave up on that series will tell you, zombie people’s heads only get you so far. It’s in the characterisation of Joel and Ellie that The Last Of Us excels. Apocalypse wow, indeed!
HAPPY VALLEY
The first four parts of Happy Valley (BBC1) have been so unbelievably strong, I’m willing to forgive the slightly silly turn of events on Sunday.
In an eyebrow-raising sequence of events that stretched credulity to breaking point, Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) managed to escape from the dock in court and run off to freedom – setting up the inevitable final confrontation between him and arch-nemesis Catherine (Sarah Lancashire).
I know why writer Sally Wainwright had to do it – audiences have been screaming out for the two of them to come face-toface – so I’ll just accept it, despite the fact such a high-profile criminal would never be able to do that in a million years.