Happy Valley star Charlie Murphy has revealed that series three of the BBC crime drama is on the way and should be released in 2022.
The Irish actress, 32, said the show’s creator, Sally Wainwright, has started writing the next series, which comes after the final episode aired in 2016.
Charlie, who plays Ann Gallagher in the popular TV show, also revealed that audiences can expect series three to ‘probably’ air sometime in 2022.
Return: Happy Valley star Charlie Murphy, 32, who plays Ann Gallagher in the BBC crime drama, has revealed series three is on the way and should be released in 2022
Speaking to Digital Spy, Charlie announced that Sally is currently in the process of writing the next series of the award-winning show.
She said: Sally’s taken up the pen again now, so yeah, we’ll see what happens. It’s really exciting. She’s just focusing on it now, which is exciting. She’s just an incredible writer. I just can’t wait to see what she pulls out of the bag for it.’
Happy Valley was a big hit with audiences after first airing in 2014, winning a BAFTA Award for Best Drama Series, with a follow-up second series in 2016.
However, fans of the show will have to wait until next year to see the crime thriller return to screens as production is yet to begin.
In process: The actress said that the show’s creator, Sally Wainwright, (pictured) is writing the next series of the BAFTA award-winning show – five years after the last episode aired
Award-winning: Happy Valley was a big hit with audiences when it first aired 2014, winning a BAFTA Award for Best Drama Series, with a follow-up second series in 2016
When asked what date it would be expected to air, Charlie replied: ‘Timeline-wise, probably [2022].’
Set in the Calder Valley, West Yorkshire, the show stars Sarah Lancashire as Catherine Cawood, a police sergeant dealing with the aftermath of her daughter’s rape and suicide.
It also stars Siobhan Finneran who plays Catherine’s sister Clare Cartwright, a recovering heroin and alcohol addict, and Charlie Murphy as Ann – a kidnap victim who later becomes a Community Support Officer.
Drama: Set in the Calder Valley, West Yorkshire, the crime thriller stars Sarah Lancashire as police sergeant Catherine Cawood (pictured)
This comes days after Charlie confirmed she will not be appearing in the sixth season of Peaky Blinders.
The actress played real-life character Jessie Eden, a British trade union leader who was close to Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) in the fourth and fifth seasons, and was his occasional love interest.
However it’s clearly not to be, as Charlie told Digital Spy: ‘Yeah. I’m done now. But it was a lot of fun when we shot it. And that feels like an age ago as well. Which it was. It was about three years ago.’
She’s out: This comes after Peaky Blinders star Charlie (pictured) confirmed in an interview on Wednesday that she won’t be returning to the show’s sixth season
Charlie’s character Jessie was last seen during the tense climax of the fifth season, protesting outside the hall where right-wing politician Oswald Mosely (Sam Claflin) was holding a facist rally.
She was one of the only people Tommy told about his plan to assassinate Mosely, which unexpectedly went wrong after Tommy’s would-be assassin and Aberama Gold (Aidan Gillan) were killed instead.
Discussing what could have happened to her character, Charlie said her real-life counterpart went ‘to Russia and helps with the Communist Party there, and helps build the Metro system’ so in her mind that’s what has happened.
She added: ‘I just think she was an incredible woman, and she’s a bit of a spy. There’s so much. I mean, you could make a TV series about her for sure.’
End of the road: Charlie’s character Jessie Eden was close to Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy, pictured) in the fourth and fifth series, but she said: ‘I’m done now. But it was a lot of fun’
The sixth series will pick up where the fifth series left off on 7 December 1929, the morning after a rally led by Oswald Mosley.
TV star Sam Clafin, 34, was recently seen on set for the first time since producers confirmed he’ll be making his return as the politician.
Last month, Peaky Blinders revealed Oswald’s fate in a tweet: ‘Sam Claflin returns as Oswald Mosley in #PeakyBlinders series 6.’
The Hunger Games star played the fascist leader, who rose to fame in the 1920s as a Member of Parliament and later in the 1930s, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics.
Final appearance: Charlie’s character was last seen at the end of the fifth season, protesting outside the hall where Oswald Mosely (Sam Claflin, pictured) was holding a facist rally
Peaky Blinders centres around its eponymous gang which is run by the ruthless Tommy and his family, and sees them build their power and influence over Birmingham and beyond.
The fifth season ended on a cliffhanger, with Tommy seeing visions of his late wife Grace (Annabelle Wallis) and turning a gun on himself following his botched assassination attempt of the British Union of Fascists leader.
Production on the show was delayed last year by the Covid-19 crisis, but shooting was able to begin last month with cast and crew adhering to strict coronavirus restrictions.
The BBC drama has been running for eight years and has enjoyed huge popularity but the sixth season has been confirmed as the final one, with creator Steven Knight confirming the story will return ‘in another form’.
Big hit: The BBC drama has been running for eight years and has enjoyed huge popularity but the sixth season has been confirmed as the final one but will return ‘in another form’