Opening scene of Happy Valley teases mystery before series three released

Fans of Happy Valley have been treated to a look at the opening scene of the new series ahead of it airing on New Year’s Day.

The BBC One drama is set to return for a third and final series on January 1 and will once again follow Sergeant Catherine Cawood as she unearths a gruesome crime in the Yorkshire countryside.

The police officer, played by Sarah Lancashire, is seen driving alone in foggy conditions in the teaser clip when she gets a call from her colleagues.

They tell her they need to request a pick-up following a suspect, dubbed the phantom fridge thrower, hitting their police car’s front window with a microwave.

Sgt Cawood replies: “So, he’s diversifying.”

She then gets another call telling her remains of bones have been found in a drained reservoir and decides to head to the scene.

Walking across a muddy area, Sgt Cawood gets close to the water’s edge and confirms the report and forensics attend.

She tells the two forensic scientists they will not have any trouble identifying the victim as it is someone she knows, who fell off a third-floor balcony nine or ten years ago when he had been taking the drug Mephedrone, known as M-Cat.

Sgt Cawood adds: “I’d recognise those teeth anywhere, I nicked him once for a public order offence and he bit me, went missing about 18 months later, that was seven and a half, eight years since.

“People used to say he’d upset someone he shouldn’t have and been buried in concrete underpants.”

Finding this gangland murder victim sparks a chain of event that leads Sgt Cawood back to her former nemesis and the father of her grandson Ryan, played by Rhys Connah.

The new six-episode series, created and written by Sally Wainwright, sees her on the trail of murderer and sex offender Tommy Lee Royce, played by James Norton.

Happy Valley airs on BBC One at 9pm on New Year’s Day.