Happy Valley's James Norton says show's finale was his 'perfect ending'
dailyrecord.co.ukJames Norton, who played baddie Tommy Lee Royce in the hit show Happy Valley, says he thought the grand finale was "sort of perfect".Over 7.5 million viewers tuned in on Sunday night to watch the last ever episode of Sally Wainwright's show, making it the most watched drama since May 2021, when the Line of Duty series six finale aired, according to The Mirror.One scene that had viewers on the edge of their seats was when Tommy set himself alight and burned to death after a tense conversation with police officer Catherine Cawood, played by Sarah Lancashire.Speaking about Tommy Lee Royce's fate for the first time, Norton said: "The ending was sort of perfect, in a Sally Wainwright sort of way."It was fireworks but it wasn’t fireworks.
It was sitting over a kitchen table and that is where Happy Valley really thrived. That’s the heart of the whole show. Cups of tea over kitchen tables in kitchens in Yorkshire."It’s not a big stunt set pieces on wires and jumping off cliffs, and guns and fireworks.
It’s gentle, it’s domestic, it’s human."In the kitchen scene, Catherine and Tommy traded insults and emotional home truths for 15 minutes in an incredibly tense final meeting.Before the police arrived on the scene, Tommy doused himself in petrol and told Catherine that her taser would no longer work and he was going to kill himself.Lighting a match, he said: "I've already taken a load of pills anyway, belt and braces me.
I'm not going back to prison."Reflecting on the scene, Norton said: "I mean, it genuinely was one of the most exciting, if not the most exciting moment I’ve had on a film set.
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