Happy Valley returned to BBC One on Sunday night (Picture: BBC)
Happy Valley is finally back on television screens after seven years and fans are already declaring it the TV drama of 2023.
Sunday night marked the return of Sarah Lancashire’s Sergeant Catherine Cawood for the third and final series of Sally Wainwright’s multi-Bafta award-winning show.
The first episode kicked off with Catherine discovering the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir, sparking a chain of events that leads her straight back to murderer and rapist Tommy Lee Royce (played by James Norton).
Elsewhere, her grandson, Ryan (Rhys Connah) is trying to forge a relationship with his father, Tommy, behind her back.
While Catherine refuses to acknowledge the sadistic killer is Ryan’s father, her sister Clare (Siobhan Finneran) is caught in the middle.
James Norton has reprised his role as Tommy Lee Royce (Picture: BBC)
Sarah Lancashire is back as no-nonsense Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Picture: BBC)
Meanwhile, in another part of the valley, a local pharmacist finds himself in hot water with a rival gang when a neighbour is arrested for possession of diazepam.
Happy Valley fans are over the moon to see Catherine back and enthusiastically announced that this year’s television had already peaked.
‘#HappyValley has set the standard for drama for 2023,’ one professed. ‘What a tough act to follow.’
Echoing a similar sentiment, another enthused: ‘SIMPLY STUNNING. Unless it ends badly (which I highly doubt) #HappyValley has to be up there when it comes to Best TV lists at the end of this year.’
A third added: ‘Good news – Happy Valley was worth the wait. Bad news – it’s 1st January and 2023 TV has peaked already.’
The second episode of Happy Valley series three is set to air on Sunday, January 8.
‘Catherine learns of a painful betrayal close to home, and Faisal comes under increasing pressure from all sides,’ the synopsis reads.
Showrunner Wainright previously explained why she waited so long to write the final series of Happy Valley.
‘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 said.
‘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.’
More: Trending
She added: ‘That was always the intention, to have a gap and it has worked out just about right. Just the right period of time because he is now 16, so he can travel places by himself, he can make choices.
‘He can do things behind Catherine’s back. The intention developed through conversations I had with Sarah to make it a three-parter, to make a trilogy. We always said this would be the final season and it is very definitely is the final season.’
Happy Valley airs Sundays at 9pm on BBC One.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
The seven-year wait was well worth it!
