Happy Valley fans were thrilled when series three burst back onto our screens after a huge seven year gap.
The gritty BBC drama follows Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) on the trail of murderer and sex offender Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton). While the second series saw Ryan, the biological son of Tommy and Catherine's late daughter Becky, just nine years old, he is now 16.
Bosses have explained the long gap was necessary for Ryan actor Rhys Connah to be old enough to play a young adult. This is because he needed to have more of a say in whether or not he visited his father in prison.
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The first episode of series three aired on January 1 and saw Catherine discover the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir. It sparked a chain of events that led her straight back to Tommy Lee Royce.
Since then, viewers have been gripped by each episode, as Tommy's narcissistic ways have managed to once again get under Catherine's skin. The latest episode airs on Sunday (January 29), and many fans of the show will be eager to know how many episodes are left - and whether or not there'll be another season.
The last episode of series 3 will air on Sunday, February 5. In what is likely to be sad news for many viewers, this will be the final instalment of Happy Valley, as there'll be no more series of the programme.
Sally Wainwright, writer, creator and executive producer, explained her decision to make Happy Valley a trilogy and why it took her so long to write. She said: "I waited six years because 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.
"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. It’s been great that we got Rhys back to play Ryan which has been fantastic, and he has done a really lovely job in that.
"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."
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