The week’s DVDs begin in Northern England:

DVDs and streaming for Sept. 22 by Boo Allen

This week, we begin in Northern England:

Happy Valley (****1/2)

BBC Worldwide North America now releases two of their excellent unrated crime dramas, and, as usual, they consistently surpass their American counterparts, with more complex yet realistic plots, a heightened grittiness, sleek, intelligent scripts, and classically-trained casts. The much lauded Happy Valley—season one (352 minutes) won the coveted BAFTA, the British Oscar equivalent, for Best Drama Series in 2014 along with two acting nominations. Like HBO’s “True Detective,” its six episodes, on two discs, offer a self-contained drama centered on a single crime. Here, it’s a kidnapping gone wrong, but without the “Fargo”-like humor. An excellent Sarah Lancashire plays Catherine Cawood, a sergeant in the police force of Happy Valley, a grim, crime-ridden industrial area of England’s West Yorkshire. Ivan Strasburg’s pristine cinematography of the area, specifically Northern England’s Calder Valley, captures its contradictory beauty. Sgt. Cawood’s personal life has various demands constantly pressing down on her, while she remains pre-occupied with the release from prison and then the subsequent local re-appearance of Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton, also fine). He previously raped Cawood’s daughter, sending the young woman to a subsequent suicide. Unknown to Cawood, Royce inveigles himself into the kidnapping scheme, setting off the season’s complex plot which remains consistently taut and suspenseful throughout.

From 1996 to 2004, Amanda Burton starred in 44 episodes of the still running Silent Witness as forensic pathologist Samantha Ryan. These dramas centered on Ryan helping the local police solve murders through her forensic expertise, while also giving time to Ryan’s romance with her detective superior Peter Ross (Mick Ford ). This collection from season two (1997, 384 minutes) arrives on two discs and features four, two-part episodes. In “Blood, Sweat, and Tears,” an anonymous auto hits and maims a boxing trainer. Later, one of his fighters dies in the ring and, when she attends the body, Dr. Ryan discovers previous injuries may also have led to the death. She must then help uncover if the road accident ties in to the ring fatality, which brings in the community’s sleaziest characters. A young Idris Elba (possibly the new James Bond) plays one of the boxers. Ryan must uncover why two AIDS patients die prematurely in “Cease Upon the Midnight.” The culprit turns out to be an unlikely source. In the equally surprise-filled “Only the Lonely,” Dr. Ryan must determine whether a woman’s death has been caused either by a jealous husband, or by her lover, or perhaps someone else. A 72 year-old woman is beaten and left for dead in “Friends Like These.” Dr. Ryan must establish whether it was the work of two young thugs or a straggly street person.

Saint Laurent (**)

Gaspard Ulliel plays the title character in this meandering bio-pic about the famed fashion designer. Bertrand Bonello co-wrote and directed, centering on Yves St. Laurent’s life from 1967 to 1976 when he was at the peak of his work and reputation. Bonello paints Monsieur St. Laurent as the typical tortured genius whom few understand while he spends his time, repetitively, taking drugs, drinking, smoking, and having gay sex. His life doesn’t seem to change that much when he meets his main love, Jacques de Bascher (Louis Garrel). The film and the outfits are uniformly gorgeous, but little revelatory or insightful happens–and even that takes too long.

Rated R, 150 minutes.

Extras: a brief interview with director Bertrand Bonello and an equally brief featurette on “The Characters.”

The Beginner’s Bible—volume four

Volume four of the popular children’s animated series returns with four more Biblically-based stories: “The Story of Joseph and His Brothers,” “The Story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den,” “The Story of the Battle of Jericho,” “The Story of Jonah and The Whale.”

Not rated, 120 minutes.

The Red Road-season two

The six episodes, on two discs, of this grim drama from Sundance TV take place in several feuding communities in upstate New York near a Lenape Native American reservation. It seems everyone in the area grew up together, so sheriff Harold Jensen (Martin Henderson) and his wife Jean (Julianne Nicholson) are naturally well acquainted with recently paroled bad seed Phillip Kopus, played by Jason Mamoa (memorable as Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones). In season one, Kopus witnessed something he used to extort favors from the sheriff. He also had the sheriff looking the other way during several transgressions. The season begins when the tribe gains federal recognition, setting off conflicts involving pride, money, and ancestry. Various other dramas concerning the Indian tribe also play out, such as the pollution of its land, the possible construction of a casino, and tribe members resenting Kopus and his relatives. And Kopus’ young brother Junior (Kiowa Gordon) continues to cause trouble, helping maintain the season-long sense of unease.

Not rated, 265 minutes.

Extras: the 11 minute “making of” featurette “Inside the Red Road,” and the three minute segment “Sundance on Set.”

Also on DVD and streaming: Blumenthal, The Farewell Party, The Heart Machine, In the Name of My Daughter, Pitch Perfect 2, Results.