Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright has said that the show took a six-year break between series in order for young actor Rhys Connah to become a teenager.
The acclaimed drama, which stars Sarah Lancashire and James Norton, returned for its third series on BBC One last night, almost seven years after the last episode of series two went out.
Connah plays Ryan, the grandson of Lancashire's Sgt Catherine Cawood and the son of Norton's psychopath criminal Tommy Lee Royce - and now he is 16 years old, with Ryan eager to know more about his incarcerated dad.
Wainwright, who has written every episode of the show, explained: "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."
Happy Valley continues Sundays at 9pm on BBC One.
Neil Wilkes
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