How a nostalgic Norton made toast of Ken Loach

daShInG actor James norton, now filming the new series of ITV period drama Grantchester, has hit back at BaFTa-winning director Ken Loach for claiming the genre indulges in ‘fake nostalgia’.

‘It’s not fake nostalgia, it’s just nostalgia. I don’t even know what fake nostalgia would be,’ norton, 31, tells me.

‘One reason people love period drama — like Grantchester, which is set in the Fifties — is that a lot of them can remember that time. They can look at the toaster and the washing machine and have a fondness for them because it reminds them of their past, and allows them to engage with the story emotionally.’

Speaking at the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane launch party to celebrate the hotel’s new facelift, norton adds: ‘In this country we’re so lucky to have an incredible cultural heritage and it would be mad not to celebrate that.

‘We’ve a lot to be proud of and a lot to question, which is something period drama should do.’