Happy Valley series three: Sinister first trailer shows return of Catherine Cawood and Tommy Lee Royce

The new series begins with Catherine carrying out an investigation into a gangland murder victim

The first trailer for Happy Valley’s forthcoming third season has been released online.

Produced by the BBC, the hit crime drama is returning for six new episodes beginning in the new year.

Set to “Atmosphere” by Joy Division, the 90-second-long trailer shows Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) drawn into another deadly drama that seems to involve Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton).

The new series begins with Catherine carrying out an investigation after the remains of a gangland murder victim are discovered in a reservoir.

Siobhan Finneran, Charlie Murphy and Rhys Connah all reprise their roles from the first two seasons.

Happy Valley debuted on BBC One back in 2014, and was a critical and commercial hit.

A second series aired in early 2016, and was even more popular, averaging over nine-million viewers per episode.

In Daisy Wyatt’s review of the series from the time it aired, she wrote: “Happy Valley may be billed as a crime drama, but it’s the domestic scenes centred on family life that make the series such an absorbing watch.

“The dialogue is natural, the plot is tightly written and the performances are outstanding. And the well-timed pauses make Happy Valley a stand-out drama.”

With seven years having passed since the last episode aired, it’s fair to assume you might have forgotten what happened in series one and two. Fear not: The Independent has assembled a recap of everything that’s happened in the first two series.

In our roundup of the best Christmas TV this year, Jacob Stolworthy describes Happy Valley’s new series as “as watchable as ever”.

Sarah Lancashire as Catherine Cawood in series three of ‘Happy Valley' (BBC/Lookout Point/AMC/Matt Squire)

“It’s equally as tense, too,” he adds, “with the series exploring Tommy Lee Royce’s (Norton) tightening hold over his now-teenage son, Catherine’s grandson Ryan, played by Connah.

“If this really is Happy Valley’s final hurrah, it seems it’ll be going out on a high.”

Happy Valley returns to BBC One at 9pm on New Year’s Day 2023.