It has been revealed that Sarah Lancashire was vocal in how Happy Valley came to an end after she 'wasn't happy' with the original script. The actress has won high praise for her portrayal of Sergeant Catherine Cawood after the hit BBC One series returned for one final outing.
The multi-Bafta award-winning series follows Sarah as no-nonsense West Yorkshire Sergeant as she looks after her family. And viewers had been on the edge of their seats as they turned in every Sunday for the next installment of the gritty drama as it entered its third - and last - series, 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 it all came to an end on Sunday night (February 6) 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. And if the reaction is anything to go by, the final-ever series didn't disappoint with more than seven million people watching the final as it unfolded.
Warning: Spoilers ahead...
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." Later, Catherine was seen packing up her belongings as she retired from the police force after 30 years of service - but not without a tip-off about killer pharmacist Faisal.
Now, Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright has said Sarah was "not happy" with the original ending she wrote for the hit BBC show, so audiences have her to "thank" for the "satisfying" conclusion.
Sally told the BBC’s Newsnight programme on Monday (February 6) that she has Sarah, who won a leading actress Bafta for the second series, to "thank for that ending in many ways". She added: "I wrote the first draft (for the last episode) and everybody seemed quite happy with it and then she made it clear that she wasn’t happy with it and (during Christmas 2021)… she came up to my house and she spent all day talking about it and she gave me some really good notes.
"So everything got pushed a bit further in that episode and it was all thanks to Sarah." Sally also added that former Corrie star Sarah’s "performance is really off the scale" across the three series of the drama. Sally also reiterated that this is the last series of Happy Valley as she does not want it to become a "pale shadow of itself" and there will be no spin-off of the show in future despite fans' pleas.
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