Stars Rishi Nair and Robson Green say goodbye to Grantchester with the 11th and final season
Ever since first making its PBS debut back in 2015, Grantchester has proven to be a shining beacon within the “cozy murder” genre, presenting viewers with an endless stream of puzzling mysteries solved by a police detective and an Anglican clergyman. Robson Green has played Detective Inspector Geordie Keating since the series’ inception, first working with vicar Sidney Chambers (James Norton), and then vicar William Davenport (Tom Brittney), and now vicar Alphy Kotteram (Rishi Nair).
As Granchester begins its 11th and final season, viewers are promised a series of episodes that continues the crime solving while also providing a fitting farewell. “We return to Grantchester in the summer of 1963 — each character standing at a crossroads that will shape their future,” details the new season’s logline. “Alphy’s growing connection with the bishop’s daughter Meg (Christie Russell-Brown) coincides with more discoveries about his past and the life he might have lived. Will he find the answers he’s been searching for? Geordie enjoys a period of relative calm with Cathy (Kacey Ainsworth) and their family, but a tempting offer from his commanding officer threatens to upend everything. Will he risk losing the life he loves? Leonard (Al Weaver), too, faces quiet yet profound change as caring for a neighbour’s son awakens a paternal side he never knew existed, challenging him to reevaluate his purpose. With themes of family, forgiveness, faith, and introspection, Grantchester’s last chapter promises self-discovery, hope, and transformation.”
For Nair, who joined the series in its ninth season, the role of Alphy has been a gift — albeit with one caveat. “The first challenge of being a vicar, for sure, is the dog collar,” he explains. “That is super uncomfortable, and especially because we film in the summer months, it’s very warm, and my suit is made from wool. I don’t think you can actually see on the screen, but I have a shirt, and then I have this black vest on top, then I have the waistcoat, then I have the blazer. So it gets very hot underneath all that. It’s quite funny being in a vicar’s outfit for the whole day. When you’re filming, there’s a lot of time where they’re setting up cameras and stuff. So I went for a walk and people [in town] were kind of looking at me, and being really smiley and nice. I was thinking, ‘Oh God, people here are really lovely.’ And then I realized, when people don’t know that I’m an actor, and think I’m a vicar walking the streets, they’re very smiley and kind. I was tempted to ask people to tell me what their sins were, but I restrained myself.”
That said, Nair also admits that the character that viewers see onscreen isn’t that different from the actor they might encounter in real life. “I guess I’m quite similar to Alphy, in terms of, Alphy’s described as glass half-full, quite positive, looks at things in positive ways,” he says. “And I think that’s how I like to live my life, to see the best in people, and try and be as positive and half glass-full as I can. Alphy has that, but he is also a vicar, and he has to be very understanding of people, and has to see both sides of every kind of argument, or any murder, or whatever it’s going to be.”
That extends to the trait that Nair views as Alphy’s superpower, the vicar’s ability to disarm people with his sunny personality. “I think what I really love and admire about him is the way he deals with situations that most people would react quite angrily to, or be very hurt by,” says Nair. “He kills people with kindness, whether that be people just being rude to him, or whether that being people judging him because of the colour of his skin. The way that Alphy deals with it is with a smile, and he . . . doesn’t really take it to heart, which I think to the perpetrators catches them off guard. I love Alphy . . . I like him and I like his flaws as well. I think they make him who he is.”
For Green, saying goodbye to the character he’s played for more than a decade — and the group of actors who’ve become like family to him — is a bittersweet experience. “From the very beginning, I have had the incredible fortune to be part of this extraordinary team of talented, passionate and dedicated individuals who have become more than colleagues,” he says. “They have become family. I have made friendships forged through shared laughter, challenges, and triumphs. The bonds we’ve formed extend far beyond the camera lens, and I know that they will endure long after the final scene within the Grantchester world has been filmed.”
Green continues: “Thank you to everyone who has been part of this incredible journey. [Series creators] Emma Kingsman Lloyd and Daisy Coulam . . . from that very first day you gave me the extraordinary opportunity to be part of this experience. It has been an honour to share in the magic of Grantchester, and I am forever grateful for the memories, the friendships, and the love that this journey has given me. I hope I made you proud.”
Grantchester on Masterpiece airs Sundays on WTVS and KCTS