Happy Valley's Sarah Lancashire has revealed the moment she finally felt ready to leave her character, Catherine Cawood, behind. Moments after tearfully accepting two gongs at the BAFTA TV Awards, the actress told Express.co.uk and other media how she felt about the show's ending.
"Actually, you're kind of ready to let a character go. You know when it's the end of that character when they've sort of travelled their full lifespan, in a sense," she wistfully explained. "[That's] because of the nature of the writing, this beautiful story arc which was planted and designed to take us through those three seasons.
"Also, she was retiring [from her job as a police officer], which felt like a very fitting rightful end to her, really," Sarah continued. However, she admitted the one thing that was "hardest to walk away from" - and that was her "irreplaceable" fellow actors, after spending a decade together on their journey.
"We've worked together very closely... and I do feel extraordinarily privileged to have had their company for such a long time. They're rather irreplaceable, to be honest," she vowed. After the show came to an end, it was announced that Sarah would be pursuing a "niggling passion" for getting behind the camera, and plans were announced for her own production company.
She teased "a handful of [future] projects" after claiming her BAFTA on Sunday night, but set the record straight over suggestions she'd be looking to highlight Northern talents specifically. "I'm less geographical about it than you would suggest. We just know that over the years we've stuck up some very good relationships with people and hopefully they're people we will continue to have good working relationships with," she concluded.
Sarah was blinking back tears after receiving the accolade for the Best Actress and the Memorable Moment Prize for her final kitchen scene with Tommy Lee Royce, played by James Norton.
Fans were on the edges of their seats during the tense finale, which saw Catherine goad Tommy - the man who raped her late daughter and whom she holds responsible for her suicide -to the point that he sets fire to himself.
Though she offered to call him an ambulance, it was clear that there was no love lost between them, and finally, she made no move to stop him as he set himself ablaze.
Afterwards, she jumped on him in a bid to smother the flames, but it was too little, too late - and Catherine exited the house sobbing in a mixture of shock, grief and relief, as he met the same gory end as her daughter years before.
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Fans hatched up conspiracy theories as they didn't see Tommy take his last breath and thought he might return against all expectations in a follow-up series.
However, Catherine received a text confirming that he'd died in hospital, and it was subsequently confirmed that the much-loved series was over for good.
That final scene beat off competition from the likes of Succession and its Logan Roy death scene, and teenage Lucy's emotional musical performance in the Piano, to win the gong.
An emotional Sarah confirmed that it finally is time to say goodbye to Catherine Cawood, despite disappointment from the show's millions of fans.
