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Happy Valley’s Ryan is unrecognisable as first look at final series premiere drops – leaving fans shocked
HAPPY Valley's Ryan is unrecognisable as the first look at the final series premiere drops - leaving fans shocked.
The gritty BBC drama returns to our screens on Sunday evening after a seven year absence.
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All the main cast are reprising their roles including Sarah Lancashire, James Norton and Siobhan Finneran, but it's young actor Rhys Connah who has distracted some viewers.
Rhys plays Catherine's grandson Ryan, and last time Happy Valley viewers saw him, he was nine years old.
But after such a gap between series two and three, Ryan is now 16 and in his final year at school in the opening episode.
Viewers couldn't believe how much he has changed, with one writing on Twitter: "Nooooooooooo, Ryan!!!!?"
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Another added: "What !!!!"
A third tweeted: "Look at Ryan now, all grown up over six years after the second series."
The first look at the opening scenes for the series three premiere show Sgt Catherine Cawood - played by Sarah - being called to a local reservoir which has been drained.
Once there, she finds the remains of a dead body, but with the bottom half missing.
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The cop interacts in her matter-of-fact manner as the forensics arrive, before calling them "t**ts" as she heads back to her vehicle to go to the police station.
Meanwhile, show writer and creator Sally Wainwright has spoken about the pressure she faced to get the third and final series right.
She told Radio Times: "I was really anxious not to write a duff third season. I really don’t think it is. There’s a very definite climax.
"A narrative has gone across all three: in season one, Catherine and Tommy came face to face outside Ryan’s school, and in season two they almost came face to face in the crematorium, at Tommy’s mum’s funeral.
"In season three, there’s a very big face-to-face showdown. The kind of cathartic showdown that people have waited for. It’s pretty dramatic.”
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Happy Valley series three begins at 9pm on New Year's Day on BBC One.
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