The final season of Happy Valley is almost upon us – and the release of a brand-new trailer means that fans can finally get a glimpse into what’s in store for Sergeant Catherine Cawood.
The multi-BAFTA award winning show launched in 2014 and will be back for a final series, with the first episode airing on New Year’s Day.
Starring Sarah Lancashire as Catherine, the series follows her life and work in the drug-ridden Calder Valley in Lancashire. In addition to policing, Catherine is struggling to hold her family together after her daughter Becky committed suicide, leaving behind her son Rhys.
Though the plot for season three has been kept tightly under wraps, we do know that Catherine is looking forward to retirement – but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen any time soon.
When she discovers the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir, the clues lead straight back to Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton), the man responsible for Becky’s suicide, who has been languishing in jail for the past six years.
In addition, there’s also trouble at home: Catherine’s grandson Ryan (Rhys Connah) wants a closer relationship with his father. The resulting fallout leaves Catherine’s sister Clare (Siobhan Finneran) caught in the middle.
The trailer itself shows Catherine finding the mysterious body in the reservoir, interspersed with clips of Tommy in prison. As it progresses, we see a car chase, police officers knocking down the door of a house and Catherine with a blood-streaked face.
All in all, the stage is set for an explosive final season, which will finally see some kind of resolution to Catherine and Tommy’s relationship.
“It’s not a police procedural, it’s not a crime show,” creator Sally Wainwright has said in a recent Q&A. “It’s really about Catherine and about what happened to her in the past and this weird crooked relationship she has with this man who affected her life so badly.”
For Wainwright, the path to making season three has been a long one – it’s been six years since season two aired – but worth it. “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,” she says.
“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.”
Norton agrees. “The relationship between Catherine and Tommy is kind of everything, at least for Tommy,” he says.
“Tommy has Catherine and Ryan, they are the big two poles of his existence. Catherine has her family and does not want to think about Tommy. Tommy constantly forces his way into her life and her consciousness. They are in the best way, in that sort of old-fashioned way, epic adversaries pitched against each other. “
