Happy Valley Series 3 - BBC1 9pm starts 1 January 2023 - no spoilers - tv pace

[IwantToRetire]

Just thought we could start with a dedicated thread to series three of Happy Valley.

There are 2 existing thread were fans have been discussing rewatching series 1 & 2

www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4694640-happy-valley-series-3-coming

www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4688605-happy-valley-series-3-to-be-shown-at-christmas

And for anyone who is going to binge, do you want to start your own thread?!

Any chance Neil could be the father of Tommy? Theres something insincere about him and his relationship with Claire.

Surely there is no way Ann would take Ryan to see Tommy after what he did to her?! It must be Claire and Neil.

Remind me how Nev is connected to Catherine?

I picked up on the comment from the drug brothers. The leader of the drug dealers is going to be one of the high rank police officers i reckon as they didn’t care about the police as if they are protected.
not sure on who takes Ryan. Sounds like Claire and Neil but seems a bit obvious. Maybe Neil and another woman 🤔
the domestic abuse/ tablet popping I think will have a twist not just a nasty husband but something more sinister.
I am loving it already.

He is Anne’s dad.

Another thought. What about Roz ( Catherine’s ExDH new wife) taking Ryan. ? He did say they are estranged.

Maybe Neil and another woman

What happened to Moaning Myrtle woman from Series 2 - she who had the "romance" with TLR and became Ryan's TA in order to facilitate contact? Even if she went to prison, it wouldn't have been for that long, probably.

I thought that maybe Neil and another woman, perhaps pretending to be Ryan's aunt, are taking him to the prison. He's the only one with no personal reason to despise Tommy and, as an addict, could be open to manipulation.

There's no way that Tommy would mouth off about being involved in a murder unless it was a strategy to get out of prison or do some deal for an earlier release or witness protection. Maybe if the horrible PE teacher continues to pick on Ryan, Tommy will get out and kill him?

I'm worried about Catherine being just a few weeks from retirement. Is she going to do something that means being denied her police pension?

Awful thought, but is it possible the drug-addicted mother is allowing her daughter to be sexually abused in order to get hold of her pills? Online stuff, maybe?

I'm worried about Catherine being just a few weeks from retirement. Is she going to do something that means being denied her police pension?

I hope we don't get a repeat of Unforgotten!

Hopefully she is far far away. Shirley Henderson gets in my wick with her whispery acting.

I think I need a who's who recap on characters. Too much time has passed since I watched 1 and 2. I only remember the sister being an addict, Ryan being Catherine's son, Ryan's mum committing suicide due to being raped by TLR, and that's about it.

Did anyone else laugh when the chemist tripped but fair play carried on like a trooper?

Yep, her mannered acting style ruins everything she is in, and she's always the same in every role. I don't know why she gets cast in things. She was totally wrong for series 2. That character should have been sinister yet pathetic, but she made her just silly.

Another random musing from me - TLR looks like Jesus on the cross with that big gash across his head.

I was playing spot the Emmerdale actors

@JaneJeffer DH and I said that he looked like Jesus after wearing his crown of thorns!

Sally Wainwright and Sarah Lancashire are just the dream team - SL is absolutely pitch perfect in every scene.
I sadly also think it's Clare and Neil taking Ryan to see Tommy. I think Clare deep down believes that Ryan deserves to know his dad and make his own mind up.

AutisticLegoLover - like you I wish someone would do a family tree type of thing.

But Ryan is Catherine's grandson not her son. Her daughter was raped by TLR, and committed suicide after Ryan was born.

Claire is Catherine's sister a former drug addict who couldn't get work and volunteered at a support group.

Clare's actual son whose name I cant remember, was married in earlier series but now seems to have become involved with Ann the kidnap and rape victim from series 1.

Catherine and her ex husband were still meeting up for sex in series 1, but now meet up to talk about their son and grandson. And tonight he said his now wife has started sleeping in the spare room.

The man who has asked Catherine out is the father of Ann and his wife died of cancer in series 2 but was already ill in series 1.

Claire's boyfriend was at the same school as her and they re-met in the last series.

I dont remember any of the names of her police colleagues or tell them apart but do remember the woman who was a police officer and now works at the police station and is always trying to get Catherine to ease up and have a bit of fun.

Anyway I am sure someone could do better than this or you could look at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Happy_Valley_characters although that didn't help me as there are no pictures (I'm hopeless with names)

Some photos of cast on IMDb - I’d completely forgotten about Steve Pemberton !

www.imdb.com/title/tt3428912/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cl_sm

@IwantToRetire

Thanks, that's very helpful!

I'd forgotten just how good this is. Thanks for the recap IWantToRetire, much appreciated.

Wonder when Tommy Lee will escape?

Underpinning the first and second series was a concern about the level of drugs in the area and theory that someone in police or local government must be involved. Catherine was trying to get her ex to write about it in the first series.

Ashley (who was involved with the original kidnapping with TLR as well as drug smuggling) was going to testify against his bosses and was killed.

The remains they found at the beginning of this episode were assumed to be tied to the same crime family, and they hoped to get TLR to testify against them.

Ultimately, I think the chemist is caught up with the same people and that story line will bring it all to a head-- via the wife who didn't get rid of the packaging for her tablets.

@EsmaCannonball i don’t think (and I really hope not) that the pharmacist is abusing the little girl as the mother offers to go to bed with him but he doesn’t have time.

Not sure if it’s been said but could Roz be one of the people taking him?

Have we seen Roz previously? I can't recall.