Happy Valley viewers can’t get enough of the third and final season of the drama about a police sergeant and his gang rivals.
BBC One’s Yorkshire drama Sally Wainwright is just as important to the show for fans as Sarah Lancashire and James Norton – but where was it filmed?
Where is Happy Valley?
The show’s name refers to the drug problem in West Yorkshire’s Calder Valley, where the story takes place.
Lancashire’s character Catherine Cawood is a police officer in the valley, having given up her police career to raise her grandson Ryan after her daughter Becky’s suicide.
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Becky committed suicide after being raped by drug dealer and violent criminal Tommy Lee Royce (Norton), whose release from prison in the first season sets off the plot as Catherine seeks revenge, justice, and Ryan’s protection from his immature father.
Siobhan Finneran also stars as Catherine Clare’s older sister, a former heroin and drug addict she lives with.
Series creator Wainwright grew up in Sowerby Bridge in Calderdale, where he often appears in the programme.
Most of the Happy Valley stories are set in Halifax and the police often refer to detectives who come to visit them from Wakefield.
Where was Happy Valley filmed?
Although the story is very dark and contains a lot of sad scenes in a limited space, the character gives a strangely different look.
Fans of the show love the natural beauty of the valley that contrasts with the massive faults that are taking place.
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Most of the episodes were filmed in Wainwright’s home town of Sowerby Bridge rather than on location, and some scenes visited Hebden Bridge, Huddersfield, Meltham and Keighley.
Catherine and Clare’s separate home is in Hebden Bridge and police photographs are taken in an old disused post office.
Halifax residents may recognize parts of the Harveys store, as the Elland crematorium that has been mentioned several times and was the scene of Tommy Lee Royce’s mother’s funeral in season two has been re-used.
Other locations in Halifax where filming took place included Boothtown and West View Park, while shots outside the Sowerby Bridge police station were also used.
Fans who want to visit the most beautiful places used can go to Mount Tabor which was visible in some places where the characters were driving in the countryside.
Where did the famous cafe scene from season 3 take place?
Season three has confirmed the hugely popular return of Happy Valley after an eight-year absence, and one episode in particular has left viewers calling for Lancashire and Finneran to win the prize.
Catherine and Clare meet for an awkward conversation in a cafe allegedly in Sheffield to discuss a big change for season three – no spoilers here.
The meeting was actually at the Amico Cafe in Bolton, Greater Manchester, where TV star Jake Quickenden visited ITV’s afternoon show Lorraine to find out what kind of history she was enjoying.
Owner John explained how the restaurant attracted many Happy Valley fans, including one woman who traveled to London to sit at the same table as Catherine and Clare.
He added that it is now Happy Valley sandwiches on the menu in tribute to the Finneran line that he was “looking at a mediocre sandwich”, which is a ciabatta roll with prosciutto ham, chicken and pesto, and side salad and chips.
Happy Valley airs Sundays at 9pm on BBC One.
