Happy Valley season three has completed filming - and the creator of the series, Sally Wainwright, has opened up about what to expect from Catherine Cawood’s now-teenage grandson, who is also the son of the psychopathic Tommy Lee Royce, Ryan.
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Chatting to Radio Times, Sally explained: "Well, he's someone who's trying to make sense of his past and find out the truth about his past. You know, it's so complex. And it's so complex for the adults in his life to try and explain things to him without it being too distressing for him. So it's kind of all the complexities of that really."
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She added: "The plan was to wait for Ryan to be older so that he can make his own choices about whether he wants to have contact with his dad or not. So it really explores that."
In the show, Sergeant Catherine Cawood has made the decision to raise her grandson, who was born after her daughter Becky was sexually assaulted by Tommy Lee Royce, which led Becky to die by suicide due to the trauma of her experience, destroying Catherine’s family.
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However, in season one, Tommy learns that he is Ryan’s father and attempts to make contact with him. In season two, he manages to get through to him while in prison after convincing one of his visitors to persuade Ryan that he is really a decent person, with the series concluding with Ryan writing to his father in prison, with the pair appearing to have formed a relationship.
Sarah Lancashire has won a BAFTA for her role as Sergeant Cawood
The official synopsis from the BBC reads: "When Catherine discovers the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir, it sparks a chain of events that unwittingly leads her straight back to Tommy Lee Royce.
Ryan will now be a teenager following the seven-year time jump
"Her grandson Ryan is now sixteen and still living with Catherine, but he has ideas of his own about what kind of relationship he wants to have with the man Catherine refuses to acknowledge as his father. Still battling the seemingly never-ending problem of drugs in the valley and those who supply them, Catherine is on the cusp of retirement."
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