Filming for Happy Valley season three has begun with Sarah Lancashire spotted on set

Sarah Lancashire has reprised her role of Sergeant Catherine Cawood as filming for the third and final season of Happy Valley begins.

It was announced back in October that the smash hit crime drama, created by Sally Wainwright, would be returning for its final season in 2022 following its explosive season two finale in 2016.

The BBC confirmed that Sarah Lancashire would be returning for her lead role of no-nonsense Sergeant Cawood, as will Siobhan Finneran in the role of Catherine’s sister Clare and James Norton as the murderer and sex offender responsible for Catherine’s daughter’s suicide, Tommy Lee Royce.

And this week, three months on from the announcement, Boothtown in Halifax has been taken over by crews as filming for the third season officially gets under way.

Images shared on social media at the start of the week show the film crews gathering around the familiar police vans, with many of the cast members dressed in the iconic florescent yellow police jackets. 

And, despite the dark undertone of the series, Sarah Lancashire was seen to be in great spirits as she was photographed laughing and sipping on coffee with her colleagues while donning Sergant Cawood’s uniform.

According to the BBC, the final season will follow Catherine as she investigates a gangland murder that leads her right back to Tommy Lee Royce, and her struggle to end the constant drug supply in the valley.

An official synopsis for the third season of Happy Valley reads: “When Catherine discovers the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir it sparks a chain of events that unwittingly leads her straight back to Tommy Lee Royce.

“Her grandson Ryan is now sixteen and still living with Catherine, but he has ideas of his own about what kind of relationship he wants to have with the man Catherine refuses to acknowledge as his father.

“Still battling the seemingly never-ending problem of drugs in the valley and those who supply them, Catherine is on the cusp of retirement.”

A release date for the third and final season of Happy Valley is yet to be announced. Seasons 1 and 2 are available to watch on both Netflix and BBC iPlayer.