"I’m very proud to be part of it" - Happy Valley's Siobhan Finneran talks about what makes the BBC series so special

Siobhan Finneran plays Clare Cartwright, the kind-hearted sister of Catherine Cawood, played by Sarah Lancashire.

“Clare is the very, very devoted sister to Catherine,” said Siobhan. “They’ve got an amazing relationship which is, I think, one of the reasons the audience love it so much – because it’s very real and honest. Clare is quite fragile, she’s always been quite fragile and Catherine has always been her rock.”

This series has seen sister’s relationship put to the test after Clare kept the fact that Catherine’s grandson Ryan was visiting his biological dad Tommy Lee Royce in prison. Viewers will be watching closely to see if their relationship is ever the same again.

Happy Valley has been a huge hit with audiences since it first hit our screens back in 2014 and was created by Calderdale writer and director Sally Wainwright.

Siobhan said: "Happy Valley is the sort of telly that I like to watch, where there are very real, believable characters. So the stories might be a little bit extraordinary but the way that the real characters deal with that, I enjoy watching that kind of thing.

"I’m very proud to be part of it because it’s really loved, it’s a really loved show.”

Siobhan has played Clare since series one and had a feeling the show would be a hit with audiences after reading the first script.

She said: “I can remember reading the opening scene from series one where Catherine is trying to talk someone down and arms herself with a fire extinguisher and sunglasses and thinking this is really special. I think I read the whole series in one evening. But I don’t think you can ever really know that something you’re working on is going to be received well, you just hope having witnessed first-hand the work that’s been put into it that it is!

"As an actress when you get a Sally Wainwright script you can’t actually wait to get on set and do it. It’s very easy to sit and get lost in two, three, four, five, six hours’ worth of her stuff. The characters and their personalities are there so we’ve just got to add a bit of flesh to those bones really.”

Happy Valley continues on Sunday on BBC One at 9pm