Happy Valley's Sarah Lancashire on "totally unexpected" BAFTA TV Awards win
Lancashire's performance as Catherine Cawood saw her pick up the Best Actress trophy.
It's safe to say that Sarah Lancashire's impeccable performance as Catherine Cawood in Happy Valley's final season was throughly deserving of accolades – but the star has said her win at tonight's BAFTA Television Awards came as something of a surprise to her.
Lancashire was up against stiff competition from the likes of The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey, Nolly's Helena Bonham Carter and The Sixth Commandment's Anne Reid in the Best Actress category - but was ultimately crowned winner.
And speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press in the winners' room after picking up her golden mask, Lancashire said she was "shocked" by the result.
"It was totally unexpected," she said. "And I know people say that, but it was totally unexpected; I am very shocked indeed."
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She went on to heap praise on the "extraordinary" and "symphonic" writing of the show's creator Sally Wainwright.
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"She is so attuned to dialogue and to character in a way that I've never encountered before, and she's never come my way before. And from an actor's perspective, it's everything that you would hope for, really."
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Meanwhile, speaking about the public's reaction to the drama, Lancashire said that she was "very surprised" by how many people flocked back to the show given the lengthy gap between its second and third seasons.
"I mean, it was a lovely surprise," she added. "I'm very glad that they did, and Sally's very glad that they did. I think the third season was a very fitting end to the trilogy."
The public's incredibly enthusiastic response to the show can be summed up by the fact that Happy Valley also won the award for Best Memorable Moment – the only category that is voted for by viewers.
It won for the incredibly tense scene that saw Catherine confront Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) in her kitchen in the final episode, with star Rhys Connah taking to the stage to accept the prize.
Happy Valley is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
