Sarah Lancashire will be returning to her iconic role of Sergeant Catherine Cawood, with James Norton reprising his role as the murdering sex offender Tommy Lee Royce and Siobhan Finneran also returning for series three as Catherine’s sister, the recovering addict Clare Cartwright.

The BBC has announced the new cast for series three, with Amit Shah (The Other One), Mark Stanley (The Girl Before) and Mollie Winnard (Four Lives) joining Happy Valley’s celebrated lineup.

Among the returning cast will be Con O’Neill starring as Clare’s recovering alcoholic boyfriend Neil Ackroyd, George Costigan as Nevison Gallagher, and Charlie Murphy as his daughter and Catherine’s police colleague Ann. They will be joined by Derek Riddell as Richard Cawood, Karl Davies as Daniel Cawood, Susan Lynch as Alison Garrs, Rick Warden as Mike Taylor, Vincent Franklin as Andy Shepherd and Rhys Connah as Catherine’s grandson Ryan Cawood.

Written by Sally Wainwright, the new six-part series will follow Catherine through a disturbing chain of events sparked by the discovery of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir, as she is unwittingly led straight back to her nemesis, Tommy Lee Royce.  On the cusp of retirement, Catherine is still battling with the seemingly endless drugs problem in the valley. Her difficult homelife is made all the more complicated when her grandson Ryan begins to have his own ideas about the relationship he wants to have with his father Tommy.  

The third series of Happy Valley will premiere on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.