The third and final series of 'Happy Valley' will begin on New Year's Day.

Happy Valley to return on 1 January

Happy Valley to return on 1 January

The BAFTA Award-winning series which stars former 'Coronation Street' actress Sarah Lancashire as Sgt Catherine Cawood and the last outing of the show will explore a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir which will lead the West Yorkshire policewoman back to repeat offender nemesis Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton).

A press release said: "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."

'Happy Valley' is created and written by Sally Wainwright - who is also known for penning series such as 'At Home with the Braithwaites' and ' Last Tango in Halifax' - has not been seen on screen since 2016 and she recently explained that the gap was to create an angle that would see Ryan old enough to make his own decisions in his series.

She said: "I think it's going to be good. I think it's going to be exciting. We've got some very good stories. The plan was to wait for Ryan to

be older so that he can make his own choices about whether he wants to have contact with his dad or not. So it really explores that."

'Happy Valley' begins 9pm on Sunday 1 January 2023, New Year’s Day, on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.