Five endings to sign off a masterpiece

“I HAVE never been abroad,” lamented James Norton’s bad-boy killertommy Lee Royce to Darius, his organised crime handler in last week’s episode.

But if anything is certain about tonight’s Happyvalley ending, it’s that madtommy probably won’t make it to Marbella either.

At least five endings were apparently written, some even shot, mostly to guard against spoilers getting out.

This is the “final” final too. Or so they say.there will be no more Happyvalley after this, but we heard that scenario with Line Of Duty – an ending that wasn’t liked followed by a push from fans for another series.

So how will the last episode sign off? Here are my best guesses:

●The most discussed ending is young Ryan, grandson of Sarah Lancashire’s Catherine Cawood (the uncompromising police sergeant), has a showdown with his father,tommy Lee Royce, and shoots him. Even accidentally would do. Catherine gets to retire, and visit the Himalayas.

Secondly, Clare, Catherine’s sister, shoots Royce, redeeming herself in the eyes of her sister for allowing Rhys to visit his father. Nice twist.

●Thirdly, in an act of self-defence, Catherine bludgeons Royce to death with her truncheon in front of his son Rhys.

Messy but very satisfying.

Fourthly,tommy’s handler Darius, who didn’t want him to have a gun, has an epiphany and shoots his charge dead.

Unlikely, but clean and neat.

Finally, Con O’neill’s flakey Neil Ackroyd is also looking for redemption. He might deal with Tommy himself, in the mismatch of the series. A long and hard-fought fist fight.

But with so much secrecy and so many plot twists, tuning in will be the only way of finding out.

Enjoy!