James Norton promises a Happy Valley ending to final series that ‘does not disappoint’-Charlotte McLaughlin-Entertainment – Metro

James Norton stars alongside Sarah Lancashire in the new series of Happy Valley (Picture: BBC)

Jame Norton has said co-star Sarah Lancashire gives ‘the performance of her life’ in Happy Valley as it returns for its third and final series.

After a seven-year break since the hit show last aired, Lancashire will reprise her role as West Yorkshire cop Sgt Catherine Cawood in BBC1 episodes starting on New Year’s Day.

The drama begins with Cawood discovering the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir.

This leads her to her old nemesis, murderer and sex offender Tommy Lee Royce, played again by Norton.

The 37-year-old, who also starred in Grantchester, War And Peace and McMafia, said the show is a ‘must see’ because Lancashire is an ‘absolute legend in our industry, giving the performance of her life’.

He added it was a ‘very proud moment’ when he went to the US and people told him they loved the show.

‘I think it’s such a specific show about the very specific part of England, and you know the accents and the temperaments and sensibilities of those characters are quite specific to the area,’ he said.

Norton returns as murderer and sex offender Tommy Lee Royce (Picture: BBC)

Norton said the ending ‘does not disappoint’ (Picture: BBC)

Norton said the ending ‘does not disappoint’ and will see his character ‘still in prison serving multiple life sentences’, while hiding ‘information about something we don’t know about yet’.

The story – by At Home With The Braithwaites and Gentleman Jack creator Sally Wainwright – also sees the return of Siobhan Finneran as Cawood’s sister Clare and Rhys Connah as the police officer’s grandson Ryan.

Lancashire plays Sgt Catherine Cawood (Picture: BBC)

Ryan is now 16 and living with Cawood, who refuses to acknowledge that Tommy Lee Royce is his father.

On working with Norton, Connah said: ‘You see him on set between takes and he’s such a nice person, and then we’ll start filming and he’ll just instantly switch and there’s this psychopath. He brings a lot to the character and he does it really well.’

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