Happy Valley is a British crime series created by Sally Wainwright.


Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire), a police sergeant in West Yorkshire, is raising her grandson, Ryan (Rhys Connah), after the suicide of her daughter, Becky.


In Series 1 (2014) Cawood is intent on locating Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) who is Ryan's father. Royce has served 8 years for drug charges and is now out of prison.


In Series 2 (2016) Royce is serving a life sentence. Ryan develops a friendship with a teaching assistant who is infatuated with Royce and happy to encourage Ryan to meet his father.


In Series 3 (2023) Ryan has been meeting his father in prison—to his grandmother’s horror—and is in court the day Royce escapes custody.