BBC One viewers have been left devastated after learning that the next episode of Happy Valley will be the last one in this series and ever. The drama made its return at the start of 2023 after a six-year hiatus but bosses confirmed that season three would be the last.
The new series has seen Sarah Lancashire reprise her role as Catherine Cawood alongside James Norton who plays Tommy Lee Royce and Siobhan Finneran who stars as Clare Cartwright. In the penultimate episode, Ann Gallagher, played by Charlie Murphy, told Ryan Cawood (Rhys Connah) exactly what she thinks of his dad Tommy. You can read more on the "cruel" scene here.
The second but last instalment also saw the aftermath of Tommy's escape from prison, aided by Darius Knezevic, while Catherine went out looking for him after insisting she wasn't going to "sit around on my arse watching f***king" telly. Following his escape, Tommy made contact with son Ryan through their games consoles and tried to persuade the teenager to run away to Spain with him.
Read more: BBC Happy Valley: The 7 questions we need answering ahead of series' final episode
But as the penultimate episode drew to a close, the broadcaster announced that next week's edition would be the last ever. Viewers reacted with dismay upon the realisation, as one wrote: "I can't believe there is only ONE more episode of #HappyValley left. What am I going to do when the best drama on TV EVER ends next Sunday?"
While another added: "I can't believe we only have one more episode left," alongside a string of broken love heart emojis. And a third commented: "How can there be only one more episode of Happy Valley left? I'm not ready for it to be over!"
Speaking about the almost seven-year hiatus and the decision to end Happy Valley after just three seasons, writer, creator and executive producer Sally Wainwright said: "I waited six years because I wanted to get to a point where Ryan would be old enough to start making choices about whether he wanted to have a relationship with his dad or not. And could he have a relationship with his dad, and how would Catherine feel about that?
"I really wanted to be able to explore that. It’s been great that we got Rhys back to play Ryan which has been fantastic, and he has done a really lovely job in that. That was always the intention, to have a gap and it has worked out just about right. Just the right period of time because he is now 16, so he can travel places by himself, he can make choices. He can do things behind Catherine’s back.
"The intention developed through conversations I had with Sarah to make it a three-parter, to make a trilogy. We always said this would be the final season and it is very definitely is the final season." For more showbiz and television stories get our newsletter here.
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