Where is Happy Valley season 3 filmed?
Happy Valley is one of the best dramas on television and now in its third and final season has continued to ramp up the television for audiences as a final showdown between Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) and Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) looks set to take place.
Sally Wainwright’s brilliant drama began in April 2014 on BBC One telling the story of a police sergeant in West Yorkshire bringing up her grandson Rhys after the suicide of her daughter caused by her rape at the hands of Tommy Lee Royce. The gritty and multi-dimensional story set against the backdrop of Yorkshire countryside quickly became a ratings and critical hit in the UK, spawning a second season in February 2016. Almost seven years later a third and final season o the show began on the BBC in the UK on New Year’s Day 2023.
But with such a distinctive backdrop to the show, many viewers ask where is Happy Valley set and where is Happy Valley filmed? Well, the good news is we can help you with those questions!
Where is Happy Valley set?
Happy Valley is set in the Calder Valley in West Yorkshire in the north of England.
Sally Wainwright, the creator of the show said when the programme was first commissioned: “I’m pleased that we’re filming Happy Valley right in the heart of Calderdale in West Yorkshire. It’s going to be hard work, but on screen it will look stunning”.
Wainwright herself is from Yorkshire, born in Huddersfield in 1963. She was brought up in the market town of Sowerby Bridge in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire and attended the University of York – so the setting for the hit BBC drama is certainly one that she knows well.
Where is Happy Valley season 3 filmed?
Happy Valley season three is largely filmed in the areas where it is set in various locations across Yorkshire.
The majority of the shooting took place in the Calderdale area of West Yorkshire with filming taking place in locations in Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Mythomolroyd, Luddenden, Ripponden and Wainstalls, according to Screen Yorkshire.
Filming also took place at various locations in Sally Wainwright’s home town of Sowerby Bridge itself.
In the third season of the show, there are various scenes that take place outside of the small towns and semi-rural settings and additional filming took place in local cities of Leeds, Bolton and Bradford – as well as Kirklees.
Recognisable landmarks used in the series include Holdsworth House Hotel in Halifax which features prominently in an episode as well as Cold Edge Road / Withens Road in Wainstalls close to the wind farm which “was used for a number of car driving and drone scenes.”
Filming in Leeds took place in the main Leeds City Railway Station and outside of Kikgate Market which some eagled-eyed fans may have spotted.
In addition, a disused quarry in Bradford was used to act as the drained reservoir.
Other locations that fans may have spotted include the Market Street in the beautiful village of Thornton and The Piazza shopping centre in Huddersfield.
Happy Valley is available to watch in the UK on BBC iPlayer
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