Will there be a Season 4 of Happy Valley?

❘ Published: 2023-02-06T09:10:00

James Northam as Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley.

BBC

The third season of Happy Valley ended last night with a heated climax, but will the hit BBC drama return for a fourth series?

Happy Valley stars Sarah Lancashire as Police Sergeant Catherine Cawood, with the official synopsis for Season 3 as follows…

When Catherine discovers the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir, it sparks a chain of events that leads her straight back to Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton). Her grandson, Ryan (Rhys Connah), is now sixteen and has ideas of his own about the kind of relationship he wants to have with the man Catherine refuses to acknowledge as his father, leaving Catherine’s sister Clare (Siobhan Finneran) caught in the middle. In another part of the valley, a local pharmacist gets in over his head when a neighbour is arrested.

But is this the end of the road for Catherine Cawood, or might her story continue?

How did Season 3 end?

Season 3 ended with Tommy Lee Royce escaping from prison, getting stabbed, then making it to Catherine’s house. The pair of them square off in her kitchen, Catherine holding a taser, Tommy drinking a bottle of booze.

The sworn enemies argue for a period, then Tommy pours petrol on himself, lights a match, and starts a fire. Catherine puts Tommy out, but we learn that he later dies from his injuries in prison. Ending that overarching storyline.

Catherine returns to work for her final day, where she says farewell to her colleagues. But not before suggesting they investigate Faisal Bhatti for the murder of Joanna Hepworth, thereby tying up that loose end.

Catherine then leaves her job, and drives off in her new Jeep, ready to embark on a fresh adventure. Hopefully with less death.

Will there be a Happy Valley Season 4?

No, there will not be a Season 4 of Happy Valley. Speaking to GQ, Sally Wainwright explains why…

“During filming of series two, Sarah [Lancashire] and I started talking about doing the final series and being really clear that it was a final series. Sarah is always really good at knowing when to stop doing stuff.

“I thought it would make a really clear statement that this is the end of the story. It’s been a fantastic series, but we’re going to make a really definite finale. You never know how anything’s going to go down, but I think we’ve done a good job.”

Wainwright reiterated this position while speaking to the BBC: “The intention developed through conversations I had with Sarah [was] 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.”

This article was updated on February 6 with details of the Season 3 finale.

Happy Valley might has ended, but below we’ve got news of more TV to look forward to…