Happy Valley is back after a long seven-year hiatus (Picture: BBC)

There aren’t many shows that can return after seven years away and immediately feel both fresh and familiar.

But such is the strength of Happy Valley that from the opening moment Sergeant Catherine Cawood mutters a triumphant ‘t**t’ under her breath after schooling a patronising detective, it was clear this jewel among British crime dramas had hit the ground running.

Catherine Cawood is undeniably Sarah Lancashire’s finest role. She’s stretched herself with a diverse variety of characters during Happy Valley’s hiatus, but it’s as earthy career copper Catherine, a good woman bedevilled by Tommy Lee Royce, the baddest of bad guys, that she truly shines.

So much so that, whenever she’s off screen, Happy Valley takes a bit of a dive. And there were stretches in season three’s opening episode, which set up a storyline involving a control freak teacher, a dodgy pharmacist, and a bunch of drug thugs, where it lapsed into formula crime drama.

But when Lancashire is giving it both barrels with world-weary wit or Tommy Lee is staring dead-eyed into the camera, Happy Valley is gripping stuff.

Sarah Lancashire has revived her role as Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Picture: BBC)

Fair play to James Norton because whatever the opposite of ‘scrubs up well’ is, Norton nails it, his heartthrob looks twisted into something genuinely repulsive as Tommy Lee works his evil ways.

When these two confront each other – as they surely must – be prepared for fireworks.

As for the story, well, the world as well as Happy Valley has moved on seven years and Catherine’s son Ryan is now a stroppy teenager and she’s rocked to discover he’s been seen visiting dad Tommy Lee in the nick.

That’s not going to end well.

And Yorkshire is still the UK’s drugs capital, some things never change.

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That we care about that, though, is down to writer Sally Wainwright’s gift for hooking us into characters who pulse with real life. The dialogue feels so natural that when there are the odd lapses into public information pamphleteering – a line on the health dangers of prescription drugs sticks out like a sore thumb – it jolts you out of its spell.

But that’s a minor caveat because, bucking the trend for rubbish revivals, Happy Valley is a triumphant return.

Happy Valley continues on Sunday at 9pm on BBC One.

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Happy Valley’s return immediately feels both fresh and familiar.