‘Grantchester’ returns to our screens this Sunday evening for its third series, which star Robson Green tells HuffPostUK “will be darker, more testing for its characters than anything before”.
Robson returns in the role of Inspector Geordie Keating, alongside James Norton as Sidney Chambers, a local vicar surprisingly frequently called upon to solve mysteries in 1950s Cambridgeshire.
The previous two series have seen both characters tested by the attentions of the female variety - last year’s Christmas special saw Sidney open his heart to former flame Amanda, along with her new baby from the marriage she’s just left. Meanwhile, viewers saw Geordie succumb to temptation with an attractive colleague Margaret.
Will the new series see Geordie’s marriage crumble under the weight of this affair, and will Sidney be forced to choose between his great love Amanda, and his clerical calling?
“The whole series is a lot darker and grittier,” reveals Robson. “Geordie is a father and husband in denial about his situation, but that can only go on for so long. Both he and Sidney are being reckless with matters of the heart.”
The show has gone from strength to strength since it debuted in 2014, based on the books of James Runcie, son of the late Archbishop of Canterbury Robert. Back then, Robson tipped his relatively unknown co-star James Norton for great things. “He’s a star in the making,” he told HuffPostUK back then. Sure enough, in the years since, James has made his name in ‘Happy Valley’, ‘War and Peace’ and is one of the frontrunners to be the next James Bond.
‘Grantchester’ returns on Sunday evening on ITV at 9pm.