Too Much star Megan Stalter has revealed that she hadn't seen Happy Valley prior to filming a surprising homage scene for a montage in the Netflix romcom.
The new series, which comes from Girls creator Lena Dunham, tells the story of Jessica (Stalter) – an American and Anglophile – who moves to the UK following a break-up, throwing herself into a new job opportunity.
Soon, she meets Felix (played by Will Sharpe), a British musician who immediately makes a big impression on her, but their fledgling romance will have plenty of hurdles to overcome.
At the start of the first episode, Stalter's character is seen in a montage paying tribute to some of the greatest films and television shows to come out of Britain in recent years, one of which is a clear homage to Sally Wainwright's Happy Valley.
As Jessica appears in a high-vis police uniform, breaking into a dingy and abandoned property, the narration describes a "strong-willed police sergeant who uses her trauma to solve grizzly crimes". Sound familiar? Not to Stalter, it doesn't!
When quizzed on Happy Valley by RadioTimes.com, she said: "Which one is that? Remind me… the police detective scene, of course! I don't think that I dived into that show.
"I’ve definitely seen clips of it that they showed me for the reference, but I didn't get to see a whole season of it."
Of course, it seems that neither Stalter nor series creator Dunham were overly concerned with an exact recreation, with the Ohio-born actor putting on a less-than-convincing Yorkshire accent for the scene.
Referencing the daft impression, Too Much co-star Sharpe joked that Stalter "did a lot of dialect coaching for that scene", prompting her to fight back laughter.
Continuing the gag, she responded: "Yeah, I did have a dialect coach for that scene and I did go to police training to do the scene, but I didn't quite have the time to watch the whole series."
When RadioTimes.com suggests she could be a shoo-in for a US remake of Happy Valley, Stalter says "we should have that clip go viral... because I'd like to do something like that".
While Stalter may not be totally brushed up on her British television drama, Too Much screenwriter Dunham – who now resides in London – surely is, proving the breadth of her knowledge in a separate chat with RadioTimes.com.
"I was obsessed with British culture before I came to the UK... I've always loved British television, I've always had a steady diet of BBC programming. Even as a kid in the US, you could always get those box sets," she began.
"But I really love niche British pop culture. Like, I will fully give you a run-down on [Channel 4 series] Katie Price's Mucky Mansion for 50 days. So I know things that even my British friends are like, 'You have no business knowing that.'"
Dunham added: "I feel like I could speak five other languages if I removed the part of my brain that was full of the most minute details about, you know, the woman from Atomic Kitten's romantic life."
Too Much is available to stream on Netflix from Thursday 10th July 2025. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Check out more of our Comedy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
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