Happy Valley season 3: 'There are some amazing things coming up in this season' says Sarah Lancashire

Sarah plays Sergeant Catherine Cawood in the series created by Calderdale writer and director Sally Wainwright.

The upcoming series will see Catherine discover the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir, sparking a chain of events that unwittingly leads her straight back to Tommy Lee Royce, played by James Norton.

At a Q&A following the Halifax screening of the new series, Sarah Lancashire told audiences why there’s been a seven year gap between series two and three: “After the second series, people began to put pressure on Sally to bring the third series. We wanted to do one, but didn’t know what it was going to be.

"She then had a brainwave, saying she had an idea but we needed to wait until Ryan was 16. And so we waited seven years. We’re probably one of the only shows to attempt to shoot something in real time. Everybody came back for Sally, she is a honey pot!””

The upcoming series will be the third and final one for Happy Valley and fans have been wondering how it will all end.

Sarah said: “It concludes the story as we know it. Whilst leaving it open in another sense. I can’t give more away. It’s a final series – definitively. It’s also such a brutal show to shoot, and I’m now the wrong age! I can’t fully explain it, but it’s a character which is really written for a 35 year old!”

When asked if there was a memory that stands out over the three series, Sarah said: “Over the 3 seasons there are a number of scenes that stay with you. The first season – the cellar scene. There are two scenes in this season, which I can’t talk about. But you’ll understand why I think they are great, because of the writing and who I’m working with. There are some amazing things coming up in this season.”

Happy Valley will return for its third and final series on New Year’s Day (January 1) at 9pm on BBC One.