Happy Valley writer Sally Wainwright has revealed how Sarah Lancashire helped shape the explosive climax to the final series. In her first television interview, she told Newsnight how the actress who played Catherine Cawood came to her home because she wasn't happy about the ending.
They spent a day talking it through, and Sally made some changes to the outcome. The final on Sunday (February 5) drew the largest audience according to ratings for a drama on UK television since the Line of Duty series finale aired.
It ended with a tense confrontation between Catherine and killer Tommy Lee Royce over the kitchen table in her home. Writer Sally taught all of us Happy Valley conspiracy theorists a lesson and ended the Yorkshire-set drama with a satisfying twist.
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She admitted some nerves before the final went out: "I tend to not get nervous any more really. I am philosophical that it is what it is, people will respond how they respond. But Happy Valley appeared to be doing very well and I was worried it might fall at the final hurdle, and people might think it was a disappointing ending in some way.
"I knew the ending was what I wanted it to be. That it was satisfying. I had a real choice about whether to end it on a pessimistic note, or an optimistic one, about which one of them was going to survive. It was a no brainer to end on an optimistic note with someone like Catherine. She is such a force for good."
And Sally also revealed how Sarah helped to shape the ending, after she had concerns about the original script.
Sally said: "I have Sarah to thank for the ending. I wrote the first draft , and I was quite happy with it, and then she made it clear she wasn't happy with it. Not last Christmas but the Christmas before, she came up to my house and spent all day talking about it. She gave me some really good notes so everything got pushed a little bit further in that episode, and it was all thanks to Sarah."
"The actors have to get into the real granular of the detail of the script because they have to learn it. Nobody knows those scripts as well as the actors do It was a great privilege to have the opinion of someone who knew the scripts almost better than I do because she put so much thought into it. It was a really fabulous conversation. She was literally there all day at my house and we talked it through. It was nice we worked it through together. Her performance is just off the scale. "
And asked if Catherine could ever come out of retirement, Sally laughed: "She may be do but we won't be seeing it."
The writer of hits like Last Tango in Halifax and Gentleman Jack said a "clear decision" had been made not to bring the show to an end.
Adding: "We didn't want it to go on and on and for it to become a pale shadow of itself. I think it is good to know when to stop."
She also ruled out any spin-off with Catherine's grandson Ryan becoming a police officer.
Read next:
- Sally Wainwright has just ended her popular drama with the most satisfying twist
- The simple but brilliant way BBC Happy Valley has united the TV-watching nation
- Happy Valley cast and where you've seen them before
- The Happy Valley quiz that will see if you're as sharp as Catherine Cawood
- Happy Valley fan spots detail in Sarah Lancashire picture that proves how brilliant an actor she is
