Happy Valley is back for an edge-of-your-seat third series and we couldn’t be happier. Yet again Sarah Lancashire is playing a blinder as complex copper Catherine Cawood, with many predicting that she’ll win yet another BAFTA for her performance. So, it’s surprising to learn that Sarah had serious doubts about the role as filming began on the first series back in 2014. “I told the director when we started that I didn’t think I was right for the role,” she has previously revealed.
“He told me to shut up – a lot – thankfully! Before we started filming I spent about six weeks trying to find her accent plus I was frightened of the uniform, to be honest. I didn’t know how I was going to wear it authentically. Fortunately, we had a police advisor on set who helped and I felt my back was covered. She was very good at showing me the ropes for procedural police stuff.
“For a woman who I didn’t initially think I could relate to, I’ve found that I missed Catherine when I wasn’t playing her. It is a very demanding role, though. Sally Wainwright’s dialogue is very dense and natural so you have to spend a lot of time working on it. It’s a full-on experience filming Happy Valley. I kind of survive on about five hours sleep for about four-and-a-half months while making it.”
However, Sarah regards her role as Catherine as an absolute gift. Did she find other parts paled in comparison? “To be absolutely truthful, getting my hands on such an exciting role means they do at times,” she has said. “You’re always looking for things to measure against it. You’re spoilt to be on the receiving end of Sally’s work. Trying to find comparable work is hard.”
The first series of Happy Valley got an average of nearly eight million viewers a week – something Sarah has previously admitted was way beyond her expectations. “I don’t think any of us could have anticipated the response. You’ll ask me in interviews, ‘Why did you take this part?’ and I’ll reply, ‘Because it was beautifully written’. But, as we all know, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to resonate with an audience. Some of the greatest pieces are struggling to get two million viewers. But for whatever reason, Happy Valley resonated – people clearly like that genre of drama.”
As far as writer, creator and executive producer of Happy Valley, Sally Wainwright, is concerned, Sarah is one of the reasons why the drama is such a success.
“It’s Sarah’s performance,” she says. “I think that she is an extraordinarily empathetic performer. She conveys the real subtleties of the tiny, moment-by-moment thoughts in everything she does. The audience really engages with her. Catherine is very strong and very stubborn. I think she has a very strong streak of irony and comedy.
“Catherine is a good person to whom something very tragic has happened. That informs the character that she is now. She has that streak of tragedy that strikes through her but is somebody who prior to that was very amusing and entertaining and good fun.
“I always had Sarah in mind to play Catherine. She was in Last Tango In Halifax [Sally wrote the script] playing Caroline and she really captured my imagination. I thought she played Caroline so well. She has that fantastic charisma and personality. Right from the first series, I had her in mind which really helped when creating the character.”
This third season sees Catherine discover the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir, sparking a series of events that leads her to her nemesis Tommy, the father of her grandson Ryan. Actor James Norton, who plays Tommy, says, “Sarah is an absolute legend in our industry and gives the performance of her life in this series of Happy Valley. We have an amazing cast what with Siobhan Finneran and the others.”
Siobhan plays Catherine’s sister Clare. “Clare is very, very devoted to Catherine. They’ve got an amazing relationship which is, I think, one of the reasons the audience love it so much – because it’s very real and honest. Clare is quite fragile and Catherine has always been her rock. In this series, though, Clare is more settled and happy,” she says.
Why does Siobhan think Happy Valley is so popular? “It’s the sort of telly that I like to watch, where there are very real, believable characters,” she replies. “So, the stories might be a little bit extraordinary but it’s the way that the characters deal with that. I’m very proud to be part of it because it’s a really loved show.”
Will there be a fourth season of Happy Valley?
We’re already hoping for a fourth season. But looks like we’re going to be disappointed… “The intention was always to make it a trilogy,” says Sally Wainwright. “We always said this would be the final season and it is very definitely the final season.”
Happy Valley series 1 and 2
If you've not seen it before, we highly recommend you give it a watch on BBC iPlayer ahead of starting the new series. And if you have already watched it and just need a reminder to refresh your memory, we've put together a quick recap full of spoilers!
Series one
The first series began with Catherine still coming to terms with her teenage daughter's suicide which happened eight years ago. After divorcing her husband, Catherine is living with her sister Clare and Ryan, Catherine's grandson who her late daughter Becky gave birth to after being a victim of rape.
Struggling to come to terms with what happened to their daughter which ultimately led to her suicide, neither Catherine's husband and grown-up son want anything to do with Ryan.
When Catherine hears that Tommy Lee Royce, the man who raped her daughter, is out of prison after serving time for drug charges, she makes it her responsibility to find him. Little does she know that he's involved in the kidnapping of Ann Gallagher. Luckily, the police are on the case and with the help of Catherine, Ann is rescued.
Series two
In series two, Tommy Lee Royce is back in prison, serving a life sentence for the kidnapping of Ann Gallagher. When Royce's mother is killed, Catherine finds herself having to prove her innocence.
At the same time, she is also tasked with investigating a human trafficking operation. Meanwhile, Ryan, develops a friendship with a new teaching assistant at his school, who is secretly infatuated with prisoner Tommy. The court has forbidden Tommy from having any contact with Ryan, so is using the teaching assistant to try to build a relationship with Ryan. Ryan begins to ask more questions about his dad and even suggests that his dad should be forgiven.