The Happy Valley 1h 30min | Drama | TV Movie 26 November 1986 - In 1940 Kenya as their country prepares for war, the local aristocratic social set lives a decadent, self-indulgent lifestyle, that leads to murder.

The Happy Valley 1h 30min | Drama | TV Movie 26 November 1986 - Told from the perspective of an innocent young teen and the writings in her diaries, this drama about an actual, sensational murder committed among the British colonialists in Kenya is compelling and effective in its understatement. The time is the early 1940s and Juanita Carberry (Holly Aird) lives in the priviliged circles of the colonialists in Kenya, rubbing elbows with the elite at house gatherings, official outings, and numerous social occasions. Her father (Michael Byrne) treats her brutally and in order to keep her emotional balance she finds companionship in the animals around her and in the Kenyan servants who are her friends. Sharply conscious of the superficiality and cruelty of the adults in her world, she remains silent and subdued in their presence. Then scandal of the worst kind breaks at the shocking murder of Lord Erroll (Peter Sands) who was having an affair with the wife of Lord Brougham (Denholm Elliott). A front-page trial acquits Lord Brougham of the killing, but then in a moment of weakness and assuming that Juanita is too stupid to react, he lets her know that he actually did kill Lord Erroll. Juanita is thrown into a turmoil since she does not know what her next step should be -- she is obviously young and powerless.

Synopsis by Eleanor Mannikka

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