'Want to issue a public apology to this man because I have talked sh*t about him a lot'
Once again, if you haven't watched last night's finale, please walk away now - spoilers lie ahead.
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, reports The Manc.
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).
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.
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.
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."
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!"
Well, that's that then. Sorry Neil.
Featured image: BBC
Art & Culture
The Yorkshire designer who’s put together the official FIFA World Cup scarf collection
A Yorkshire-born and bred artist and his creative team have earned the huge honour of creating the official FIFA scarf collection for this year's World Cup.
Nothing short of massive for anyone from our part of the world.
The local legend in question is Tom Pitts, who was born in Sheffield and is now based just beyond Leeds, leading the campaign right from the helm.
Hand Drawn Pixels is a graphic design and digital studio based in Otley, and while you'll see plenty of folks wearing football shirts and even the odd scarf on the town's famous pub crawl, these lot are venturing on an entirely different kind of run this summer.
In fact, the work has very much already started, with Tom and co. collaborating directly with FIFA and US manufacturers, Global Scarves, to create the World Cup collection.
With this year's tournament obviously taking place across America, Mexico and Canada, they've joined up with a big LLC, but they describe themselves as "a true English custom scarf company with American parents."
In their words, "We knit scarves for clients all over the world", with a presence both near Leeds and over in Seattle, Washington.
The fixtures themselves kick off next month (England's first game coming against Croatia on 17 June), and so Hand Drawn Pixels have been hard at work meeting the briefs for each of the nations taking part.
Here's a quick breakdown of how the opportunity came about, their vision for the project, and how everything starts for them as a whole process.
You can see more of their work HERE, but as the brand name would suggest, it's pretty simple to begin with: nothing more than a pencil.
It's worth noting that the 2026 World Cup also featured the largest number of teams in the competition's history: 48 qualified national squads, to be exact. So, technically, they've had even more designing to do than they theoretically would have in any of the previous years, too.
Tom confessed that winning this bid is obviously a big deal on its own and that seeing his creations being worn in person by supporters at the stadiums will be a "surreal" experience.
Speaking exclusively with The Hoot, he said: "It’s been an amazing creative challenge for us to truly reflect the individuality and diversity of the nations competing in this prestigious tournament on such an iconic product as the football scarf."
He went on to add that "the whole project has been a huge learning experience, gaining deeper cultural insight into every nation involved."
We can't wait to cast eyes upon a sea of colour and finely crafted fabric in unique but somehow universally familiar patterns, all designed right here in 'God's Own Country'.
Pretty Woman The Musical will be returning to the stage in Leeds next year
Emily Sergeant
“Big night out. Big. HUGE.”
This is your chance to experience one of Hollywood’s best-loved romcoms of all time, as following a record-breaking run in the West End and a sell-out first UK tour in 2023, Pretty Woman The Musical is heading back out the road again next year, and it’ll be taking to one of Leeds' most iconic stages.
With direction and choreography by two-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell, an original score by Grammy winner Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, and a book by the movie’s legendary director Garry Marshall and screenwriter J.F. Lawton, it’s no wonder Pretty Woman The Musical is one of the most popular productions of the 21st century.
Image: Supplied
Just like the 1990 film of the same name, Pretty Woman The Musical tells the story of Vivian and Edward, two unlikely soulmates who overcome all odds to find each other… and themselves.
The musical – which is described as being a ‘dazzlingly joyous love story for the ages’ – lets you experience all the moments you know and love from the movie, all while getting to know these iconic characters in a whole new way.
Image: Supplied
Stopping off at Leeds Grand Theatre next summer, the show will be in our city from 27 July through to 31 July 2027, before visiting other northern cities like York, Sunderland, Hull, and Liverpool, as well as major locations like Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.
You can find out more about when to buy your tickets for Pretty Woman at Leeds Grand Theatre here.
Sophie Smith -
7th February 2023 
