History YMMV / AppleTreeYard

* NightmareFuel:
** The description of [[spoiler: what exactly Mark [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown did to George]]. Even though George is [[AssholeVictim hardly sympathetic]], it’s still quite chilling and really drives home the realisation that Yvonne (and the audience) have no idea who Mark is and what he's capable of]].
** [[spoiler: The rape scene]]. It comes completely out of nowhere, happens so fast it’s hard to comprehend what’s going on, is rather surreal and focuses largely on [[spoiler: Yvonne’s]] terrified face. It was intentionally filmed this way to reflect how a real rape victim would feel – shocked, horrified and helpless. And then afterwards, [[spoiler: she has to ride home in a cab next to her attacker, who just sits there acting like everything is completely normal]].
** Later, the revelation that [[spoiler: George has begun stalking Yvonne after the rape, combined with ParanoiaFuel. When Yvonne tries to return to work, she freezes up when she sees George heading towards her on the street…only to realise it’s just a man who looks like him]].

** The description of [[spoiler: what exactly Mark [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown did to George]]. Even though George is [[AssholeVictim hardly sympathetic]], it’s still quite chilling and really drives home the realisation that Yvonne (and the audience) have no idea who Mark is and what he’s capable of]].

** Yvonne. Regardless of your opinion on her decision to cheat on her husband, she doesn't deserve to [[spoiler: be viciously raped and then stalked by her rapist. She is left in a state of constant terror for months, to the point where she feels forced to quit her job, and feels she cannot go to anyone for help or it will come out that she had an affair. She is wrongly arrested for George's murder, gets manipulated by Mark into lying about the affair, making it worse when the truth comes out, and is then slut-shamed and accused of lying about being raped because of her affair. She only gets dragged into the murder and trial because of Mark's actions and had simply been trying to move on with her life after the assault]]. Emily Watson's performance certaintly helps to portray Yvonne as vulnerable and sympathetic.
** Yvonne's daughter to an extent. She's just found out she's pregnant, then learns [[spoiler: her mother was raped and has been dealing with it alone for months, only finding out what happened when her mother is arrested for ''murdering her rapist'']]. She actually has to miss out on part of her mother's trial due to going into labour, having to cope with the emotional stress of what's happening to Yvonne on top of having a new baby to look after.

* EpilepticTrees: Bizarrely unrelated to the content of ''Apple Tree Yard'' itself - a faction of extremist ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' John/Sherlock fans convinced themselves that this show did not exist, and that the advertised timeslot of its first episode on BBC 1 would be filled with a secret fourth episode of ''Sherlock'' Season Four (which it had replaced in the schedule) that would establish canon John/Sherlock in it as a romantic GrandFinale to the show. Their reactions when this did not pan out were not pretty.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Mark Costley is subject to some debate, given the ambiguous nature of his character. [[spoiler: Does he really have a personality disorder or is he putting on a show to gain sympathy and a lighter sentence? Did he ever really care about Yvonne or was she just another 'conquest' for him]]?

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming:
** After [[spoiler: being forced to admit she had an affair with Mark and lied about it]], Yvonne returns disheartened to [[spoiler: her cell]]…and finds a ‘Hang in There’ card from her son telling her loves her and is there for her.
** After the trial is over, [[spoiler: Gary - even though he had recently learned she had had an affair - comes up to Yvonne and just hugs her]].

* {{Tearjerker}}: [[spoiler: Yvonne]] struggling to cope with the aftermath of [[spoiler: the rape]] is heart-wrenching to watch, as is [[spoiler: her account of the attack]] during the trial.

* [[spoiler: The rape scene]]. It comes completely out of nowhere, happens so fast it’s hard to comprehend what’s going on, is rather surreal and focuses largely on [[spoiler: Yvonne’s]] terrified face. It was intentionally filmed this way to reflect how a real rape victim would feel – shocked, horrified and helpless. And then afterwards, [[spoiler: she has to ride home in a cab next to her attacker, who just sits there acting like everything is completely normal]].

* Tearjerker: [[spoiler: Yvonne]] struggling to cope with the aftermath of [[spoiler: the rape]] is heart-wrenching to watch, as is [[spoiler: her account of the attack]] during the trial.