Happy Valley's Sarah Lancashire reveals if NTAs win changes season 4 plans
Is there any chance of a comeback for the hit BBC drama?
After bagging three nominations at this year's National Television Awards, all eyes were once again on BBC One's standout hit Happy Valley.
The Sally Wainwright-created series won two NTAs this year – the first in the Returning Drama category, which also included the likes of Call the Midwife, Vera and Stranger Things.
Series lead Sarah Lancashire also bagged the prize for Drama Performance, winning over co-star James Norton, Judy Parfitt, India Amarteifio and Brenda Blethyn.
The third and final season of the BBC drama ended with a bang earlier this year and marked the end of the series. But of course, with any good drama, there's always talk of whether or not it could possibly ever make a return.
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Well, chatting to RadioTimes.com and other press at this year's awards, Sarah Lancashire spoke about whether the show's awards success might have any bearing on a potential comeback.
When asked whether accolades like this tempt her or Wainwright to do a fourth season, Lancashire said: "No because the story's complete. It's a story told as a trilogy, which has been a great way to tell a story, really."
She continued: "The danger is to carry on and carry on and it somehow loses its potency but I think this way, we left it on top."
While fans may be pining for a fourth season, Lancashire's comments follow on from similar sentiments shared by series creator Wainwright, who told Radio Times magazine previously that they made a "definite decision that this was going to be the final season".
She said: "Just because it’s been successful, we weren’t going to let it drift on until it became a pale shadow of itself."
While viewers may be missing seeing Lancashire on screen as Catherine Cawood, the actress has been busy working with Steven Knight on a new William Shakespeare series.
Read more:
- Happy Valley and Gentleman Jack creator announces new drama Hot Flush
- Happy Valley's Siobhan Finneran joins Jimmy Savile drama The Reckoning
The Peaky Blinders creator is developing a drama series based on the life of the playwright, from a concept by Lancashire, with the series being a co-production between Kudos and Lancashire’s own production company, Via Pictures.
The synopsis for the series says: "For the first time on television, the drama will tell the complete and thrilling story of the glove-maker’s son who became the greatest storyteller in history. And how one man’s genius survived and thrived in an age of turmoil and terror, danger and disease."
Speaking about the new series, Lancashire said: "Via Pictures are very pleased to be collaborating with Kudos and the brilliant Steven Knight to screen the remarkable story of William Shakespeare and his contemporaries. This is a thrilling project about a golden age beset by plague, Puritanism and deadly politics."
Happy Valley is available to watch on BBC iPlayer. If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide or visit our Drama hub for more news and features.
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Authors
Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.
