Happy Valley's Ryan: Rhys Connah on starring in hit TV drama then and now

Happy Valley fans waited 7 years for a 3rd series. The reason? So histrion Rhys Connah, who was a young lad erstwhile helium archetypal played Ryan, could turn up. He says returning to the TV amusement successful his teens has been a precise antithetic experience.

When Connah's parent archetypal saw helium had won a relation successful a amusement called Happy Valley, she thought it was going to beryllium a precise antithetic benignant of show.

"I overheard my mum speaking erstwhile to 1 of her friends," helium recalls.

"She was like, 'We got this publication and it's called Happy Valley and I thought, this is going to beryllium a truly bully kids' show. Then I opened the publication and I started speechmaking and I thought - this is not a kids' show!'"

Connah was astir 8 erstwhile helium was formed arsenic the grandson of Catherine Cawood, played by Sarah Lancashire, a constabulary sergeant for whom execution and kidnap and dodgy gangs are each portion of the tapestry of beingness successful her country of West Yorkshire.

But the main play has ever revolved astir Ryan.

His mum killed herself days aft helium was calved due to the fact that she was raped by convulsive transgression Tommy Lee Royce. That's according to Catherine, who blames Tommy for her daughter's decease and has ever conscionable wanted to person Ryan not to person thing to bash with him, and to marque definite helium doesn't crook retired similar him.

Tommy, played by James Norton, seemingly does privation to get to cognize Ryan.

There was specified a agelong hold betwixt bid 2 and 3 truthful Ryan, present 16, could get aged capable to marque up his ain mind.

Creator and writer Sally Wainwright precocious told BBC Radio 5 Live: "The spread truly was astir waiting for the quality of Ryan to beryllium aged capable to person his ain agenda, and beryllium [able to have] a thoughtful effect to his concern regarding his narration with Tommy Lee Royce."

Connah didn't cognize precisely however agelong Wainwright would wait. "I was told astatine immoderate point, I honestly can't retrieve when, that she was waiting for america to turn up a bit," helium explains.

"But I didn't cognize to what grade I'd beryllium increasing up until. I didn't cognize if I'd beryllium waiting until I was 14/15 oregon until I was 25 oregon something.

"Then I got a call: 'It's happening.'"

Connah, from Heywood, Greater Manchester, got the portion aft going to an after-school play club. At first, helium was sheltered from the much grisly storylines. "I didn't truly person an thought of the show," helium says. "I went successful lone knowing my ain scenes."

Even erstwhile Ryan's scenes progressive precocious drama, the ambiance connected acceptable was kept light. While filming the bid 1 finale, erstwhile Tommy poured petrol implicit himself and Ryan connected a narrowboat, Norton and Connah would beryllium having a laughter making insubstantial planes betwixt takes. "So it was a truly large experience," helium recalls.

Ryan often displayed challenging behaviour of his own, usually successful tantrums and arguments with his beleaguered granny. Having to enactment those retired didn't faze the young Connah - successful fact, helium often enjoyed it, helium says.

"I was the coolest kid successful schoolhouse due to the fact that I got to locomotion successful like, 'Guess what, I got to curse and no-one could outcry astatine me, no-one could accidental anything. I got to curse loads each day.'"

A decennary on, the histrion watched the aged episodes decently successful mentation for bid three. "It's precise dark, isn't it?" is his verdict.

Filming the 3rd bid was a "very different" experience, helium says. Rather than conscionable being told wherever to basal and what to say, helium has had to effort to afloat get wrong Ryan's mind.

In bid three, we spot Ryan's tendency to sojourn Tommy successful prison.

"I'm not a kid histrion truthful I really person to recognize it. When I got the script, I did walk rather a batch of clip trying to fig retired wherefore helium does it," Connah says.

"Me personally, arsenic Rhys, I don't hold with the determination - but erstwhile I'm playing Ryan, I person to hold with it. So I request to find a mode successful which I could person myself wherefore you would go."

The reasons helium came up with, helium says, see that Ryan hasn't met Tommy precise overmuch and truthful doesn't afloat cognize what he's like.

"When Ryan goes to sojourn him, he's not immoderate pack person oregon immoderate convulsive prisoner. He's a nice, comforting person. And helium is Ryan's dad, biologically.

"Ryan is astatine the property wherever having a begetter fig successful beingness is precise important, and Tommy is the lone idiosyncratic who tin supply that.

"If Ryan went once, conscionable to spot Tommy retired of curiosity, and helium was a unspeakable person, past I don't deliberation he'd person gone again. But due to the fact that helium saw Tommy being bully successful situation and not being a convulsive person, that's caused this sentiment of Tommy to alteration successful Ryan's head.

"So alternatively of immoderate convulsive serial killer, he's conscionable this somewhat misunderstood idiosyncratic who's made immoderate mistakes successful the past and wants to alteration for the better."

The archetypal 2 bid of Happy Valley some won champion play bid astatine the Baftas, and it would beryllium a astonishment if the 3rd doesn't implicit the hat-trick.

It has attracted much than 8 cardinal viewers, who are present waiting to spot however the storyline betwixt Ryan, Tommy and Catherine plays out.

Connah, who is studying media, is enjoying the galore theories.

"One of my mates astatine college, helium loves the show. So erstwhile we started filming, helium wrote a large database with each the ideas of everything helium thinks is going to happen.

"Every clip helium watches an episode, he'll beryllium determination with his notes and go, 'It happened, right, what's going to hap now?' He's travel up with immoderate huffy theories. I emotion proceeding them. I emotion proceeding everyone's opinions of the show."

But does helium person to support a consecutive look truthful helium doesn't springiness thing away?

"A batch of the theories are a spot stupid, truthful sometimes I bash laugh. But sometimes erstwhile they're saying random stuff, 1 of them volition database 5 antithetic crippled points, each of which happened exactly, and I'm conscionable like…" He gives a Bafta-worthy desperately-trying-not-to-give-any-reaction reaction.

Even if helium did privation to springiness the ending away, which helium doesn't, there's lone truthful overmuch helium could say.

"I bash not cognize precisely however it ends. I did perceive determination that they've made aggregate endings, but that's not true," helium says.

"What they've done is, arsenic a batch of shows bash - determination is 1 ending, but they've filmed it successful antithetic ways, antithetic ways of however characters accidental things, the emotions down them, the angles, the framing, due to the fact that however overmuch that worldly tin impact a country is much than astir radical would think."

So he'll beryllium watching the finale similar the remainder of us. "On the borderline of my seat."

Happy Valley is connected BBC One connected Sundays astatine 21:00 GMT until 5 February and on BBC iPlayer.