Weeks have passed since fans had to say a final goodbye to Happy Valley but it's fair to say many will still be reeling over the police drama's explosive ending. The multi-Bafta award-winning series followed much-loved actress Sarah Lancashire as the no-nonsense sergeant, Catherine Caewood as she looks after her family - and the people of West Yorkshire.
And from New Year's Day up until early last month, viewers had been on the edge of their seats as they turned in every Sunday for the next instalment of the gritty drama as it entered its third - and last - series. The end of the BBC One show came nearly 10 years after first bursting onto our screens with Sarah in the lead role alongside the likes of James Norton as Tommy Lee Royce and Siobhan Finneran as Clare Cartwright.
But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and on February 6, millions of us tuned it to watch the last-ever episode of Happy Valley after it took seven years for the third season to hit screens following the success of series two back in 2016, which came two years after Happy Valley made its debut.
In nail-biting scenes, viewers watched Tommy close to being bumped off by mob boss Darius Knezevic as his henchman arrived to silence him for good amid his grand escape plan. But it didn't take a nervous Tommy long to figure out something wasn't quite right and, armed with a kitchen knife, he got into the car with the three men. And it wasn't long before a bloody battle soon ensued with Tommy the only survivor.
Despite being in a pretty bad way himself, Tommy managed to get himself to Catherine's house where he broke in just as Catherine left to collect her grandson, and TOmmy's son, Ryan, portrayed by Rhys Connah, from the police station after he gave a statement on his contact with his dad.
And after the near miss, the pair did end up having an emotional showdown after Catherine was alerted to a smashed window at her home. Tommy was found by Catherine sitting at her kitchen table having just taken a load of pills. He told his son's grandmother that he could finally see what she had done for his son Ryan, in raising him following the suicide of her daughter Becky, who he still claimed to have loved, as opposed to his delinquent childhood.
But Catherine was far from impressed when Tommy told her that he 'forgave' her. And not holding back with her words, Tommy's buttons were pressed by an unforgiving Catherine, leading Tommy to douse himself in petrol with two options - either Catherine Tasers him and end it all or he sets himself on fire and ends his own life.
However, viewers didn't know where to look when the psychopathic villain set himself alight, only for Catherine to rush in to save him. She then calmly left her home before breaking down and being found by Clare and delivering a classic Happy Valley line that viewers couldn't help but love. "We've had another bit of a tussle. I won. Obviously," Catherine said. And then she added to her sister: "I think I might have singed one of your crochet blankets."
And now, with the hopes of not spoiling the end for fans of the series, James Norton, who played Tommy, has posted a video of the scenes in which his character was set on fire - and he wasn't actually in it. The actor filmed as his stunt double , Hollywood stuntman Leo Woodruff, sat in James' place and the kitchen table and acted out the intense scene.
Leo had to set himself on fire twice so that the show could capture the most nail-biting moment of 'Tommy' on fire in Catherine's kitchen. But Leo is no stranger to subjecting himself to dangerous projects, as the professional stuntman has also worked on Bond's No Time To Die, Batman and the Marvel films.
The actor also added in a snap of himself and stunt double Leo both dressed as Tommy. "SPOILER ALERT, waited a beat before posting in case people hadn't caught up," James wrote over the video while he also added in the caption: "HAPPY VALLEY BTS — final scene — Huge respect to @leonardstunts, my stunt double. The man literally goes up in flames #happyvalley #bts."
And fans couldn't believe it. @lizzysawyer1 said: "Bloody. Hell. I thought it was CGI!!" @therubyfoxes replied: "Holy moly! I’d thought the [fire] was CGI. Blimey!@cat_mck30 echoed: "And here’s me assuming it was CGI!" @tracey_jacob17 commented: "Oh my goodness ! I held my breath the whole way through that! What a man! Perfect stunt double for any future role eh."
@ambient_paradise wrote: "Wow! Massive respect for your stunt guy what an amazing scene. Thank you for letting us see this." @charwil typed: "Holy crap!!! I assumed this was some clever camera trickery!! Well done Leonard!!" @sairey_bearey also added: "Oh my god I always thought this was a real house."
And while usually a real house would be used as Catherine's home, for the fire scenes, the kitchen was replicated in a studio, James previously revealed. "It was shot quite late on in the shoot. Everyone [in production] knows it is this massive scene in the schedule, but it wasn’t even said," he told TV critic Scott Bryan for GQ.
"I’ve got the call sheet somewhere. It’s like 'Catherine and Tommy chat in kitchen' or something like that. But everyone knew it was a big thing." He revealed how the "amazing" art department built a replica of the exact room in a studio.
He added: "There were stunts. There were fire engines. They built the whole kitchen. You think it was the kitchen we shot in Hebden Bridge. That scene wasn’t actually shot in that house. What they did was they built a whole kitchen in a studio, because I think it would be hard pushed to go and ask the owner of the house 'do you mind if we just exploded a human being in your kitchen?'"
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