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Wales Online
Wales Online
Lifestyle
Sam Cook

James Norton shares brilliant behind-the-scenes pics of almost 10 years of filming Happy Valley

BBC drama Happy Valley came to its conclusion on Sunday, February 5 and it's safe to say that the final episode was well received by critics and viewers. Overnight viewing figures have shown that 11 million people flocked to their TV screens to witness the final showdown of Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) and Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton).

Ahead of the finale, social media was full of people sharing their memories of the series - including Tommy actor James Norton, who posted a series of pictures to his Instagram. Captioning the first of several posts, James wrote: "Dropping some Happy Valley nostalgia before the finale on Sunday…these were taken nearly 10 years ago…"

Happy Valley, the brainchild of writer Sally Wainwright, began in 2014 and has run for three series, with a significant gap between the second and third to allow Ryan Cawood actor Rhys Connah to grow older. Read here to find out why there will be no more episodes.

Read more: BBC Happy Valley's James Norton shares why he feels 'immense pity' for Tommy Lee Royce

James shared a photo from rehearsals with Ann Gallagher actress, Charlie Murphy (James Norton/Instagram)

The first series of Happy Valley dealt with the kidnapping Ann Gallagher (Charlie Murphy). Despite causing her all sorts of terror in the actual show, James and Charlie looked at ease with each other in this snap behind the scenes.

Rhys Connah has certainly changed since he first appeared in Happy Valley! (James Norton/Instagram)

James then shared more photos of filming the first series. In amongst these, you can see a young Rhys Connah, who plays Tommy's son Ryan. Back then he was just eight years old and now looks totally different as the teenage Ryan.

James' series 2 Happy Valley look (James Norton/Instagram)

Moving on to Happy Valley series 2 and Tommy returned to prison for the crimes he committed in the first series. In the third in a series of nostalgia posts, James shared his series 2 look, which saw him with a buzzcut and crucifix tattoo. The actor also shared a short clip of getting his head shaved for the role.

Tommy Lee Royce wasn't the most stylish of prisoners in the first series of Happy Valley series 3 (James Norton/Instagram)

Tommy Lee Royce's time behind bars has meant that the character has had some dramatic changes to his look in each series. Happy Valley's final episodes saw actor James sport long hair in the first half of series 3. He shared several photos from the make-up chair to his social media.

Following Happy Valley's dramatic conclusion, James shared one final photo, which you can see above. In the photo, he stood alongside co-star Sarah Lancashire and considering how the pair despised each other in the show, they looked remarkably close. You can watch Happy Valley in its entirety right now on BBC iPlayer. For more TV and showbiz stories, subscribe to our newsletter here.

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