{"id":27954,"date":"2022-12-30T13:00:14","date_gmt":"2022-12-30T12:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1755211"},"modified":"2022-12-30T21:50:57","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T20:50:57","slug":"happy-valley-recap-what-you-need-to-remember-before-season-3","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/happy-valley-recap-what-you-need-to-remember-before-season-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Valley recap \u2013 what you need to remember before season 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Morgan Cormack\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 30 December 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

It\u2019s finally time \u2013 Happy Valley<\/a> is back.<\/p>\n

The anticipated third season picks back up seven years after<\/a> the second and, in its third and final instalment, viewers can expect drama-fuelled fireworks from the offset.<\/p>\n

Back in 2016, after season 2 had aired, creator Sally Wainwright<\/a> revealed that she wouldn\u2019t bring back police sergeant Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) until she had time to write a good enough script. While distance has certainly made the heart grow fonder, it\u2019s natural that some of the previous season\u2019s grittiest details may have slipped to the back of your mind.<\/p>\n

So, in an effort to make sure that there aren\u2019t any moments of confusion or finger-pointing at various characters, allow us to refresh your memory about what happened in season 2 of Happy Valley. Only read on if you have watched it as there are major spoilers<\/strong> ahead.<\/p>

What happened in Happy Valley season 2?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In season 2, we once again follow Catherine as she investigates a major crime in the Calder Valley. But, of course, all roads in her life somehow always seem to lead back to her nemesis: kidnapper, murderer and rapist Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton).<\/p>\n

Catherine is tasked with investigating a human trafficking operation after multiple prostitutes are found dead across the Valley, including Royce\u2019s mother, Lynn Dewhurst. Royce believes Catherine is involved in some way and tells penpal-turned-love interest Frances Drummond (Shirley Henderson) as such when she visits him in prison.<\/p>\n

And so Royce maps out a plan of revenge. It mainly centres on Frances killing Catherine but also involves getting in contact with his son Ryan, though that\u2019s strictly prohibited. How, then, you may ask? Drummond falsifies her identity and is placed into Ryan\u2019s school as new teaching assistant Miss Wheland, who coerces the young boy into believing he should forgive his dad and write him a letter.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Happy Valley: Frances Drummond (SHIRLEY HENDERSON), Catherine (SARAH LANCASHIRE)<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Elsewhere, one of the lead investigating officers on the serial murder case is DCI John Wadsworth (Kevin Doyle), who is caught up in a love affair with Vicky Fleming (Amelia Bullmore). When he attempts to end it between them, she drugs and blackmails him with compromising images she\u2019d staged. When she threatens to send them to his entire contact list \u2013 thus jeopardising his career and personal life \u2013 John strangles and kills her in a fit of rage and fear.<\/p>\n

As one of the officers on the serial murder case, he has the knowledge needed to stage the scene to make it look like another in the string of serial murders of women in the area, and thinks he\u2019s got away with it too \u2013 until the real murderer is revealed.<\/p>\n

In episode 1, we meet Daryl, the young farmer whose sheep were stolen and who is continually terrorised by local youths. He lives with his mother Alison and seems like a background character until we find out that actually, he\u2019s the killer behind the murders of local prostitutes.<\/p>\n

Later in the season, he confesses to his doting mother, who promises she will stick by his side. In the morning, though, after making him one final cooked breakfast, she shoots Daryl dead.<\/p>\n

She does so to protect him from prison life, she later tells Catherine, but then proceeded to attempt to take her own life. In the hospital after Catherine saves her, she tells Catherine she became pregnant with Daryl after being raped by her father. Daryl was always an \u201caberration\u201d in her eyes was always going to turn out badly.<\/p>\n

As for the murders themselves, Daryl tells his mother that he didn\u2019t kill Vicky, explaining that he \u201cwouldn\u2019t have had to have done that last one if people hadn\u2019t kept thinking he\u2019d done that Vicky Fleming one\u201d. With a renewed interest in catching Vicky\u2019s murderer, the police appeal for anyone who may have noticed suspicious activity on the evening of her death.<\/p>\n