Happy Valley star Con O'Neill has promised that fans are in for a treat when the hit drama comes to an end this weekend. The third and final season of the gritty BBC One show will come to an end on Sunday (February 5) when the last of six much-anticipated episodes airs.
It's been seven years since fans last caught up with Sergeant Catherine Cawood and co and it appears the wait will be worth it when Happy Valley concludes in an extended finale. The series so far has seen Catherine led back to Tommy Lee Royce after she discovered the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir.
The discovery sparked a series of events that has led her back to the father of her grandson Ryan and her late daughter's rapist. After a tip-off from her colleague in the police force, Catherine was shocked to discover it was her sister who was facilitating Ryan's visits to the Category-A prison in Leeds with her partner Neil Ackroyd.
Fast forward a couple of weeks to the penultimate epsiode and all eyes were on Tommy following his dramatic escape while standing trial for the murder of Gary Gaggowski. At the same time, confused teen Ryan discovered the horrific truth about his killer father from Ann Gallagher, who was abducted and raped by the vile psychopath back in series one.
There was also a heart-wrenching moment when Ryan told his granny he loved her. But then, as Daniel, Ann, Clare, Neil, Nevison, Richard and Ros were all hiding, and waiting for news of Tommy's capture, they were completely unaware that Tommy was making direct contact with Ryan via their games consoles after it had already been revealed he was planning a flit to Spain with his son in tow.
Fans have had a taste of the drama to come in a trailer of the last ever episode released by the BBC, showing officers hurriedly charging out of the police station, Tommy with a bloodied face appearing to be kicking something, or someone, in a field, and Tommy creeping around in Catherine's house.
The trailer ends with a shot of heroic Catherine, played by Sarah Lancashire, in tears. She can be heard saying: "He's still out there. He's going to be angry and he's going to be even more desperate and dangerous."
Asked by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby about the ending of Happy Valley during his appearance on This Morning on Thursday (February 2), Neil actor Con said: "When I read the script for the last episode it blew my mind," to which Holly joked: "That’s all I need," after noting the show's guest wouldn't be able to tell them too much.
He said before: "Viewers are going to enjoy," before Con, who is also appearing in new ITVX drama Nolly, added: "Sally [Wainwright] has written an extraordinary ending to this show." It comes as fans appear to have their theory that Neil is Tommy's dad cemented further in a tell-tale moment from the penultimate episode.
As previously mentioned, Tommy, played by James Norton, contacted Ryan, portrayed by Rhys Connah, whilst in hiding but using the chat function on a game console, with the pair subsequently having a voice chat. Tommy claimed to have remembered his son's username from "ages ago," but Ryan didn't seem to recall giving him that information as when his dad asked if he remembered, he said: "Kind of".
But some viewers think it was Neil who could have passed on Ryan's gaming tag to Tommy. @Susie2266 tweeted: "When Claire and Neil took Ryan to see Tommy she told Catherine that they spent hours in Game and she’d go for a coffee, maybe Neil gave Tommy Ryan’s gaming tag? #HappyValley."
@Ljbrennan77 posted: "I bet Neil gave Tommy Ryan’s gaming handle. Im convinced he has more to do with it #HappyValley." @EannaKelly1 echoed: "Might Tommy have been able to contact Ryan via the game cos it was Neil who shared his ID..? Ryan didn't recall sharing that info with him... #HappyValley." @raining_purple added: "I’ve just seen that people reckon Neil is Tommy’s dad and that would actually be an incredible plot twist - makes sense why he’d happily take Ryan to prison and also how Tommy got his gamer tag #HappyValley."
Have a go at our quiz below or via this link to see which Happy Valley character you are:
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