Sidney bids farewell to his crime-solving in Cambridge
MAKE the most of James Norton as the heroic vicar while you can – this is his last series before the man in-demand heads off to do other projects.
But before he’s seduced by the heady heights of Hollywood or a BBC period drama, let’s enjoy this fourth series of the sleuthing drama.
James, who plays charismatic clergyman Sidney Chambers, has teased: “I had a couple of light-hearted conversations with some of the producers offering my dramatic, absurd, far-fetched versions of his exit.
“Inevitably they weren’t picked up. I wanted Sidney to be the victim of a gruesome murder... and then the new vicar would have to investigate the crime.”
Hopefully no foul play awaits our favourite man of God, but there is indeed a new vicar, Will Davenport, played by Tom Brittney, who will become DI Geordie Keating’s (Robson Green) new crime-solving partner in 1950s Grantchester.
But back to the beginning. Everything kicks off with Geordie and Sidney chasing a thief. “Running on Cambridge cobbles in period shoes ain’t great, so I won’t miss that, but that scene was really fun to shoot,” says James.
Later on, Sidney is “ready to poke my own eyes out with a pencil” after another interminable meeting about the church fete. He is longing for some excitement in his life.
But there’s action soon enough at a fundraising tour for civil rights activist Reverend Nathaniel Todd, which sparks racism and violence in Cambridge.
Expect murder, grief and the tease of a love story.