The first words are “What the Dickens?” uttered by the curmudgeonly housekeeper Mrs. Maguire. Seconds later, Sidney Chambers (James Norton) strips down to swimming trunks, lest we’d forgotten he’s the Hunky Vicar. His BFF, Geordie Keating (Robson Green), also in trunks and less hunky only by comparison, gets all theosophical wondering why God chose to…
An invitation to Amanda’s wedding has arrived, triggering a fresh chorus of the blues for Sidney. He recollects their history together, starting with a chance meeting four years earlier at the National Gallery, where Amanda works as an art restorer. “I’m never getting married,” she tells him, spiritedly, “I’m going to become wild and eccentric…
Our hero, Canon Sidney Chambers (James Norton) begins this episode by rescuing a woman from a burning building. He does this in his pajamas, thanks to Dickens, his faithful puppy sidekick, waking Sidney from a sound sleep by barking an alarm. All in a day’s work for Clergy-man. Soon after, while Sidney delivers a sermon…
When your protagonist is a clergyman, you can expect he’ll be wading waist-deep into ethical dilemmas. This week’s episode of Grantchester on Masterpiece Mystery presents just such a case. Based on the story “First, Do No Harm” in Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie, it explores the age-old question of whether…
In Episode 2, Sidney goes to a dinner party with snobs and we begin to depart rather significantly from the stories on which Grantchester is based. The inspiration for this episode is “A Question of Trust” from the collection called Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie. It wasn’t a murder mystery,…
A distraught woman, all red lips and stylish hat, pleads to the clergyman: “I can’t go to the police, but you— the human heart— that’s your responsibility isn’t it? You can ask any question of anyone, however private.” Yes, thinks the clergyman, I suppose I can. Now how shall I wield this unique power? And…
