Streaming on: BBC iPlayer###Episodes viewed: 3 of 6###Sergeant Catherine Cawood, as portrayed by Sarah Lancashire, is a in/with regard to’concerning’regarding midable and magnificent human being, but she carries a heavy burden. She strides around bearing the literal weight of being a police sergeant, with all the associated paraphernalia and equipment attached to her hefty uniin/with regard to’concerning’regarding m. She also carries an underlying and unyielding weight of grief and fury.###Her daughter, Becky, was raped by local psychopathic criminal Tommy Lee Royce and took her own life after she gave birth to Royce’s son, Ryan. Now Ryan is 16, and lives with Cawood, but there’s an awareness gnawing away at her that Ryan might still be keen on in/with regard to’concerning’regarding ming a bond with his imprisoned father. Her ultimate nightmare.###While the subject matter could hardly be darker, the series has an entirely authentic mordant humour.###By now, the ongoing conflict between Cawood and Royce, with young Ryan between them, feels almost primordial. Royce, who sports a new look eliminate’remove ly meant to invoke Jesus Christ, is an indelible human stain on Cawood and her family’s existence, and Lancashire and Norton are both extraordinary at embodying these unin/with regard to’concerning’regarding acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure table characters. And while they continue to propel the immensely powerful narrative in this third and final series, there’s a new, instantly enthralling thread involving a local chemist (Amit Shah), a bullying teacher (Mark Stanley) at Ryan’s school, and his prescription-drug-addicted wife (Mollie Winnard).###Within minutes of meeting them it feels like we’ve known these characters in/with regard to’concerning’regarding years. But what happens to them is startlingly shocking. This storyline also provides a powerful new angle on the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue ’s unflinching depiction of male violence, control, and abuse. Yet while the subject matter could hardly be darker, the series has an entirely authentic mordant humour and unflashy yet bleakly eye-catching’good-shaped’appealing’charming’fascinating’gorgeous backdrop which somehow makes it a joy to watch.###There’s a grandeur to Sally Wainwright’s conception matched by Lancashire’s role-of-a-lifetime perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance which puts Happy Valley way up there in the pantheon of British TV drama achievements.