Grantchester (TV series)
Grantchester is a British ITV detective drama, set in the 1950s Cambridgeshire village of the same name. The show featured first Anglican vicar Sidney Chambers, and subsequently vicar William Davenport, both of whom develop a sideline in sleuthing with the help of Detective Inspector Geordie Keating. The series is based on The Grantchester Mysteries, collections of short stories written by James Runcie. The first series was based on the six stories from the first book, Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death, and was broadcast in 2014. A second series aired in March and April 2016, and a third series began its run on 23 April 2017. A fourth series was announced on 12 April 2018, and it was confirmed that this would be the last to feature James Norton in the lead.
Tom Brittney as Reverend Will Davenport took over the lead from Norton in series 4. The fifth series commenced in January 2020. A sixth series was commissioned on July 17, 2020.
Plot
In the Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester during the 1950s, Anglican vicar and former Scots Guards officer Sidney Chambers, and subsequently his successor Will Davenport, work with the overworked Detective Inspector Geordie Keating to forge an unlikely partnership in solving crimes. Keating's gruff, methodical approach to policing complements Chambers' more intuitive techniques of coaxing information from witnesses and suspects.Cast
Current
- Robson Green as DI Geordie Keating, a WWII veteran
- Tom Brittney as the Reverend William Davenport, Anglican vicar and former inner-city chaplain
- Tessa Peake-Jones as Mrs. Sylvia Maguire/Chapman, the vicarage's devoutly religious housekeeper
- Al Weaver as Leonard Finch, the gay Anglican curate
- Kacey Ainsworth as Cathy Keating, Geordie's wife
- Oliver Dimsdale as Daniel Marlowe, a photographer who embarks on a secret relationship with Leonard
- Nick Brimble as Jack Chapman, a retired businessman who later marries Mrs. Maguire
- Gary Beadle as Archdeacon Gabriel Atubo, the church's first Archdeacon of colour
- Bradley Hall as DC Larry Peters, Geordie's partner on the force
- Felix Scott as DI Sean Donovan, a fellow DI assigned to work alongside Geordie
- Skye Lucia Degruttola as Esme Keating, Geordie's daughter
- Jemma Redgrave as Amelia Davenport, Will's mother
- Lauren Carse as Ellie Harding, an ambitious journalist who develops a friendship with Will
- Paula Wilcox as Diana, Cathy's mother and Geordie's mother-in-law who has bi-polar disorder.
Former
- James Norton as the Reverend Sidney Chambers, MC, Anglican vicar and former Scots Guards officer during World War II
- Morven Christie as Amanda Kendall/Hopkins, heiress and art restorer at London's Dulwich Picture Gallery with whom Sidney has a relationship
- Tom Austen as Guy Hopkins, Amanda's husband, who she later leaves and then divorces
- Pip Torrens as Sir Edward Kendall, Amanda's father
- Fiona Button as Jennifer Chambers, Sidney's younger sister who is Amanda's former classmate
- :de:Pheline Roggan|Pheline Roggan as Hildegard Staunton, a young German widow with whom Sidney has a brief romance
- David Troughton as DCI Benson, Geordie's immediate superior
- Joe Claflin as DC Atkins, Geordie's partner on the force
- Lorne MacFadyen as DS Phil Wilkinson, Geordie's partner on the force
- Seline Hizli as Margaret Ward, junior office clerk at police headquarters who has a relationship with Sidney and later an affair with Geordie
- Simona Brown as Violet Todd, daughter of a civil rights preacher, who Sidney falls for and emigrates to the United States with.
Production
The second series was filmed in autumn 2015, and guest stars included Neil Morrissey, Claudie Blakley, Nigel Planer, Andrew Knott, Nicky Henson and Oliver Dimsdale. The third series was filmed between August and November 2016, and filming for the fourth series commenced in June 2018. The fifth series was filmed in Cambridge and elsewhere during the summer of June 2019.
Grantchester itself is used for extensive filming, with the Church of St Andrew and St Mary used for the church interior and churchyard scenes. A private home in Lemsford, Hertfordshire, doubles as the vicarage, while the Windmill pub in Chipperfield is used for The Red Lion. King's Parade in Cambridge has been transformed to represent various 1950s street scenes, complete with period cars and buses. Horsted Keynes railway station, on the Bluebell Railway, in West Sussex has been used to double for Cambridge station.
Chatham Dockyard in Kent has doubled for various London locations, including the exterior of Kings Cross Station, Borough Market, and the exterior and interior of a warehouse and ropery. Commissioner's House was also used for filming.
After the third season, James Norton wanted to leave the series to pursue other acting opportunities. Also, actress Morven Christie had departed the show since her storyline involving Sidney Chambers and Amanda had concluded. Without Norton’s participation, there was talk of ending the series, but Grantchester had proven to be so popular with television viewers that the producers felt that the show could continue with a new male lead.
At the start of the fourth season, actor Tom Brittney joined the cast as Will Davenport, a former inner-city chaplain who was appointed as Sidney Chambers’s replacement as the Anglican vicar of Grantchester. James Norton made his last appearances as Sidney in the first two installments of the fourth season to help with the transition. At the end of the second episode, Sidney Chambers leaves Grantchester and moves to America. Starting with the third episode, actor Robson Green began receiving top billing in the opening credits. Also, with the addition of Brittney to the series, it gave the opportunity for the remaining cast members to expand their roles, particularly Kasey Ainsworth as Cathy Keating, Geordie's wife and Oliver Dimsdale as Daniel Marlowe, a local photographer who is also Leonard Finch's best friend and lover. Both Ainsworth's and Dimsdale's characters had been on the back burner for the last three years. By the time the fourth season had begun, Cathy was already working as a saleswoman in a department store and Daniel's relationship with Leonard had become more intimate and intense.
The first episode of the fifth series continues to feature Will Davenport as vicar of Grantchester. The plot centres around the students of two colleges at the University of Cambridge: a 'prestigious all-female college' and a fictional men's college. The sixth series will expand to eight, as opposed to the standard six, episodes.
Critical reception
The first episode was generally well received by the critics. Michael Pilgrim of The Daily Telegraph wrote: "Delightfully neat and economical of plot, it’s Cluedo with cassocks and just enough noir for the modern palate. Victoria sponge with a tablespoon of battery acid." He added that "There could be a worse antidote than Grantchester" in a grim October in the early 21st century. Ellen Jones of The Independent thought the programme "delightful, a new treat for fans of period-set, gently paced detective series like Endeavour, and also for fans of top TV totty James Norton."The first series was given a Metacritic score of 70 based on 14 reviews, indicating a generally favourable reception.