Fans have accused the BBC of spoiling Sunday's final episode of Happy Valley after scenes from the last ever episode, being shown on Sunday night, were aired ahead of time. The drama is coming to a thrilling conclusion on Sunday after nine years, and the huge interest has prompted multiple news reports ahead of the event.
But angry fans have accused the BBC of spoiling the finale in a news report, despite saying there would be no spoilers.
The final episode was set up last time with the escape of Catherine Cawood's arch nemesis Tommy Lee Royce from court at the end of the episode, and him getting in contact with son Ryan in secret in last weekend's penultimate instalment, asking him to run away to Marbella with him., reports ChronicleLive.
Happy Valley fans believe at least one person will die in the final episode, with Tommy the character most viewers think will be killed, although concerns have also been raised over Catherine and her sister Claire, after their 'frank exchange'.
It has been widely reported that different endings has been filmed for the finale, with actor Amit Shah revealing that the cast don't even know the outcome and James Norton, who plays Tommy, claiming that lead actress Sarah Lancashire asked for the ending to be changed.
BBC News previewed the Happy Valley finale on Friday night, but, as when Lorraine did the same earlier in the day, viewers were unimpressed at them showing scenes from the episode, right after the presenter assured people watching at home that there'd be 'no spoilers.'
After a look ahead to Sunday's show aired, one irate Twitter user fumed: "Is there no escape from spoilers? Now the @BBCNews @ 10 pm is showing giveaway scenes from the finale without warning. Even the football results get a couple of seconds notice. Knock it off."
Equally annoyed, another tweeted: "No spoilers for Happy Valley but you show scenes we have not seen. That spoils it. You broadcast news so keep to that please."
Happy Valley actor Robert ‘Con’ O’Neill said when he read the script for the last episode of the hit BBC series it “blew” his mind as he promised the ending of the show will be “extraordinary”.
The final episode of the show, created by writer Sally Wainwright and starring Sarah Lancashire as West Yorkshire Sergeant Catherine Cawood, will be broadcast on Sunday night at 9pm.
When the multi-Bafta-winning series returned after seven years for a last series on New Year’s Day, it received rave reviews and has weekly drawn in millions of viewers to watch the TV show in real time on BBC One.
For two series of the show, O’Neill has played recovering alcoholic Neil Ackroyd, who is the boyfriend of Catherine’s sister, Clare, played by Siobhan Finneran.
When he was asked about the ending on This Morning on Thursday, O’Neill said: “When I read the script for the last episode it blew my mind … Sally has written an extraordinary ending to the show.”
Over the last five episodes, Happy Valley has continued to follow the story of Catherine, who is currently awaiting retirement, and her nemesis, the murderer and sex offender Tommy Lee Royce, played by James Norton, along with introducing new plotlines and characters.
The six-part drama has also focused on Catherine’s grandson Ryan, played by Rhys Connah, and his relationship with his father Royce, the crime family the Knezevics and married couple Game Of Thrones star Mark Stanley and former Coronation Street actress Mollie Winnard.
Stanley plays Ryan’s controlling PE teacher Rob Hepworth, who padlocks the fridge and beats his wife Joanna, who is addicted to diazepam, which has been provided by Faisal Bhatti (Amit Shah).
O’Neill said he missed the impact the final series was having on UK audiences as he was away filming romantic pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death, which also stars Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi.
He added: “So I was in New Zealand and then in LA and then came back and as soon as I got off the plane here (people were whispering when I was) waiting at customs.
“I’m getting some bizarre DMs and (my mates are) texting me with ideas about who he is and what’s going to happen…
“We’ve lived with this show for a long, long time and for Sally to bring it home the way she has, it’s very easy to keep a secret because it’s just beautiful … and isn’t it wonderful to not have a show dropping every episode?”
The previous series of Happy Valley aired on BBC One in 2016. Both series one and two won Baftas for best drama series and writing, while Lancashire won the leading actress prize for the second series.
