The actress has been filming the six-part “shocking crime thriller” in the Calder Valley area of Yorkshire, alongside Steve Pemberton (Whitechapel), Siobhan Finneran (Downton Abbey) and Joe Armstrong (Robin Hood).

Lancashire plays Catherine, a no-nonsense police sergeant who heads up a team of dedicated police officers in a rural valley in Yorkshire. When a staged kidnapping quickly spirals out of control and turns into a much more brutal and vicious series of crimes, Catherine finds herself involved in something significantly bigger than her rank, but unknowingly close to home.

She commented: “Happy Valley is a dark, funny, multi-layered thriller revolving around the personal and professional life of Catherine, a dedicated, experienced, hard-working copper. She is also a bereaved mother who looks after her orphaned grandchild. It’s an emotional, complex, challenging role. I’m terrified, exhausted and freezing cold but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Happy Valley will air on BBC One in 2014.

Series 2 of Last Tango in Halifax concluded earlier this week on BBC One.

> Buy Series 2 on DVD on Amazon.

Watch the Series 2 trailer…

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