CASE CLOSED
ROBSON GREEN AND JAMES NORTON on the departure of Sidney Chambers…
New crime drama
Grantchester
Friday, ITV Hd, 9pm
WHEN JAMES NORTON first played crime-solving clergyman Sidney Chambers in the 1950s-set crime drama Grantchester in 2014, he was a fairly new screen face. Since then, he has starred in Happy Valley,
War & Peace and Mcmafia and is tipped to be the next James Bond. The 33-year-old now believes the time is right to leave the show and he will depart Grantchester midway through the fourth series, which begins this week.
‘It’s been an emotional decision, I’ve loved this job,’ he says. ‘I owe
Grantchester a huge amount.
I just felt it was time to give someone else a turn and if you want to keep learning you’ve got to take the plunge. Sally Wainwright is writing a third series of Happy
Valley and I’m starting to venture into film, so it feels like the right time to challenge myself.’ NEW ARRIVALS So what will become of Sidney? He is feeling restless when the new series opens. The love of his life, Amanda (Morven Christie) is out of the picture and life in the village is feeling claustrophobic and tedious. But he finds something to spark his interest with the arrival of civil-rights activists from Alabama on a fundraising tour.
‘There’s an evangelical preacher, Rev Nathaniel Todd, played by Paterson Joseph, and his daughter, Violet, a force of nature,’ explains Norton.‘they stir everything up.’
Meanwhile, Sidney’s best friend and crime-solving partner, DI Geordie Keating (Robson Green), is struggling to move with the times.
‘He wants to go back to the old days because he believes children don’t respect their parents any more and criminals don’t respect coppers,’ says Green.
When one of the activists is murdered, Rev Todd becomes a suspect and, as Geordie investigates, he is shocked to discover that Sidney has fallen for the preacher’s daughter, Violet. EMOTIONAL FAREWELL ‘Geordie can’t believe it, he thinks Sidney is implementing himself in the crime,’ says Green.
The actor also reveals that saying goodbye to Norton was an emotional affair. ‘There wasn’t a dry eye on set!’ he says.
‘Even the director was sobbing. It’s been a joy working with James and we will always remain friends – it’s not goodbye for us.’ In fact, Green took part in the audition process for Norton’s replacement, Tom Brittney, who plays chaplain Will Davenport. He is in the first episode, but won’t be prominent until later in the series. Meanwhile, Geordie must not only come to terms with the departure of his best friend, but also with his wife, Cathy (Kasey Ainsworth), becoming more independent.
‘She gets a new job, which comes with freedom, a greater sense of self and new friends,’ says Green. ‘It’s all very strange for Geordie – he has to do the cooking!’