BBC One officially renewed Happy Valley for series 3 to premiere in the end of 2018

This article has the most up-to-date info on the status of Happy Valley Series 3 as we continuously monitor the news to keep you in the know. BBC One has officially renewed the series for another season expected to debut in the end of 2018. To get notified of the exact premiere date – subscribe for updates below.

About the series

A British criminal drama television series Happy Valley has been broadcast by BBC One since 2014, and is currently airing its second series, which premiered on February 9, 2016. Sally Wainwright is the writer behind the series and Wainwright, Nicola Shinder and Matthew Read are the executive producers. Happy Valley hails from Red Production Company.

Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) is a tough West Yorkshire police sergeant coping with her daughter`s suicide. She accidentally spots Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton), a man she deems responsible for driving her daughter to deadly desperation, in the town where she lives after he`s released from prison. She becomes deeply preoccupied, even obsessed with finding him, not knowing that he is entangled in a criminal kidnapping of Ann Gallagher (Charlie Murphy). A dark criminal web emerges as Catherine gets closer to solving the kidnapping puzzle.

Excellent reception, awards and renewal prospects

The series became an instant hit with the viewers, having premiered to 8.64 million viewers, and averaged 8.21 million viewers over the course of the freshman series` six episodes. Reviews have been unanimously positive, with the series scoring an unbelievable 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Some criticism has addressed the overly graphic content, but this controversy has remained open. Otherwise, the story has been praised as compellingly written, perfectly acted and thrilling, and all in all, a great watch. The series has won a number of awards, two prestigious BAFTAs among them, and continues to score very high ratings for the second series, with 8.64 million viewers for the premiere episode, and about 8.2 million for the subsequent two. A cancelation of Happy Valley is almost impossible to imagine at this point considering the universal acclaim it`s enjoying, so we can just basically relax and wait for a sure renewal announcement.

Latest news

UPDATED March 15, 2016: Well, if there is a series currently on the air that was surely bound to return for another cycle, it`s Happy Valley. And indeed, here is the expected news of renewal for season 3, which comes ahead of the series 2 finale scheduled for March 15, 2016. On the following day the series will become available on Netflix in the US. The renewal info comes from The Sun, and an official renewal announcement from BBC One is yet to come. The third series will introduce an unexpected plot twist that will astound the viewers. Sergeant Catherine Cawood will keep dealing with her grief, and will even consider retiring from the police force to take better care of her grandson Ryan. Please stay tuned for an official confirmation and a release date announcement.

UPDATED September 22, 2016: It`s hard to imagine how difficult digesting this information may be for the hardcore fans of Happy Valley, but here it is: there will be no third series of the hit criminal drama until at least the end of 2018. Series` creator Sally Wainwright`s involvement in another project is partially responsible for the long delay, the other reason being that Ryan needs to grow into his teenage years for Wainwright`s idea to play out in the next series. Well, those of us in love with the show will have to bear this excruciatingly long wait, and we will be sure as soon as any news about a potential release date comes through.