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Happy Valley: how Tommy Lee Royce really found out Ryan's username

Warning, spoilers ahead for Happy Valley season three, episodes one to five

tommy lee royce phone
Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
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Happy Valley is finally concluding on Sunday night – and fans have been in deep discussion over every detail of season three so far. However, there is one detail in particular that fans are particularly interested in – the mystery of how Tommy Lee Royce knew his son's gamertag.

In episode five, Tommy manages to contact Ryan via his game console, recalling his somewhat complicated gamer tag to reach out to him – and fans think that the moment is somewhat suspicious.

WATCH: Happy Valley's season finale trailer shows Ryan quizzed about Tommy

During their exchange, Ryan asks Tommy how he knew the gamer tag, to which Tommy revealed that he had once told him. So can Ryan really not remember, or did Tommy receive this information from someone else?

neil clare living room© Photo: BBC

Could Neil be behind it?

One person tweeted: "So Tommy said he’d memorised Ryan’s gamer tag but did Neil give it to him?" They added a clip from the first episode of season three, where it was revealed that Ryan and Neil often play video games together, so he would certainly know Ryan's handle. A fan replied: "Good pick up! Ryan seemed sure that he hadn’t given it to him and it’s a pretty bizarre thing to talk about!"

MORE: Happy Valley viewers seriously divided by intense episode 5 moment

MORE: Happy Valley’s finale trailer and first-look images hint at show’s ending

Another person added: "I’ve just seen that people reckon Neil is Tommy’s dad and that would actually be an incredible plot twist - makes sense why he’d happily take Ryan to prison and also how Tommy got his gamer tag," while a third added: "Suggests Neil and Tommy are closer than we think."

ryan at neil and clare© Photo: BBC

Ryan and Neil often game together

A third person joked: "The producers of #HappyValley really need to stop making Tommy Lee Royce look good occasionally because I want to hate him so badly, but the fact he memorised Ryan’s PlayStation username is top dad stuff…my dad doesn’t even know my full birth name never mind my PlayStation one."

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