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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Jessica Sansome

BBC Happy Valley's James Norton baffles viewers with The One Show appearance

James Norton has once again been mesmerizing - and pretty much scaring - viewers thanks to his role in Happy Valley. The actor returned to screens in the hit BBC One series earlier this month in which he plays the sinister Tommy Lee Royce.

Viewers were reunited with the character as he continues his stint behind bars. But in a shock twist, it was revealed that his son, Ryan, had been visiting him in prison without his grandmother Catherine Cawood knowing. After a tip off from her colleage in the police force, Catherine was shocked to dicover it was her sister, Clare who was facilitating Ryan's visits to the Category-A prison in Leeds.

This led her to confront her sister in a tense cafe moment which has been hailed by fans as some of the best TV they have seen. With three episodes still left to air of the final season of the gritty British drama, James wasn't able to say much while he chatted on The One Show.

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When asked by host Jermaine Jenas what it is like to get into the mind of such a troubled character, James replied: "I mean, I kind of love it. For a long time I felt like I should say how kind of troubling… and how much it cost me to play. But the truth is, it’s really fun."

He added: "Obviously the really despicable stuff and the violence is complicated. But the feeling of wandering around in that boiler suit and people giving you a wide berth, that doesn’t happen to me in real life, you’d be surprised to hear. So it’s incredibly empowering and I kind of love it."

And with the twists and turns of the series under wraps, The One Show was only able to show a brief clip of Tommy getting a haircut in prison. Alex Jones was keen to know if it was a real barber to which James confirmed it was a Manchester-based barber who had been drafted in to help.

Viewers were distracted by James' attire (BBC)

"He was amazing," the actor, 37, gushed. "What was amazing about that scene is that we basically let the cameras roll, and I just got a hair cut. Usually you have cuts, you know, minutes or two, three minutes here and there, but that (the haircut scene) was like a 40-minute shot.

"The cameras just rolled and everyone was watching the monitors and it was weirdly meditative. The music was playing, Gaz was doing his thing, and I was getting lulled into a lovely state. It was a really bizarre but kind of magical day."

But as James chatted about the show, The One Show viewers were distracted. @LoveBulldog also quizzed: "What is James Norton wearing? #TheOneShow." @paulafoosp asked: "Is James Norton wearing the longest men’s socks ever? #TheOneShow." @RobertEFuller replied: "I’m wondering if they are tights?" @kjgodwin responded: "Just said the same lol." @SezLez4 added: "Along With a very high trousers."

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