James Norton is 'amazed' Happy Valley is 'loved' across the world

James Norton is "amazed" that ‘Happy Valley’ is “loved” across the world.

The ‘Rush’ star finds it surprising that the crime drama - which he has starred in with Sarah Lancashire since its 2014 debut - has fans around the globe, because it is “quite specific” to its West Yorkshire setting.

The 37-year-old actor said: “It’s such a specific show about a very specific part of England.

“The accents and the temperaments and sensibilities of those characters are quite specific to the area.

“And yet when I go to America, I am amazed at how many people have watched it and how many people love it. People in the street ask me, ‘When is it coming back?’

“And that was a really proud moment, when I realised how it wasn’t only a show loved in the UK but internationally.”

James has teased fans they can expect the third series to be "as big and bold as ever", and admitted so many people have asked him over the last seven years whether the show is returning.

He said: “I am immensely proud to able to have a part in it.

“To be able to say we have shot a third series and it’s as big and bold as ever is really wonderful.

“It’s particularly exciting because everyone knows it’s the last series so everyone is predicting and guessing how it will end.”

James described his criminal character Tommy Lee Royce and Sarah Lancashire’s Sergeant Catherine Cawood - who is the grandmother of Tommy's son Ryan - as “epic adversaries”.

James said: “Catherine has her family and does not want to think about Tommy. He constantly forces his way into her life and her consciousness.

“In that sort of old-fashioned way, they are epic adversaries pitched against each other.

“They are obsessed with each other. There’s a kind of deep, deep hatred in the way that when you think about someone that you hate, they inhabit part of your consciousness.

"There’s a sort of, not love at all but, there is a kind of connection and affinity. There’s a certain kind of shared experience they have in that they both obsess about each other. In that way they are inextricably linked and will always be in some way married together."