It’s a long, hot summer in 1959. And although wedding season is in full swing in the Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester, there is also murder. Lots of murder.
“The population in Grantchester is quite small, and it’s getting smaller by the week,” said Daisy Coulam, creator, writer and executive producer of the MASTERPIECE series Grantchester.
In Season Seven of the popular drama, which premiered July 10 on GBH 2, the Rev. Will Davenport, played by Tom Brittney, unites happy couples in holy matrimony while Detective Inspector Geordie Keating, played by Robson Green, is as busy as ever investigating a range of local homicides. With a new decade just around the corner, the question on everyone’s mind is what will the future hold?
“It’s a very interesting time — the strict moral codes of the conventional 1950s versus the promise and excitement of the 1960s,” Coulam said. “What makes it fascinating is the pull between those two decades.”
But before the 1950s roll over into the swinging ’60s, there are crimes to solve and decisions to be made that might change life in Grantchester forever.
“Season Seven is all about love — how you recognize true love, how you rekindle old love and how you protect those you love,” Coulam said. “Most of all, as with every season of Grantchester, it’s about the love between two friends — Geordie and Will,” she said. “They are best friends, and that’s what the series is all about. Their friendship is as strong as ever.”
But in his romantic life, the young vicar is less successful. “Will is always looking for love, often in the wrong places,” Coulam said. “His dalliances this season will put him into conflict with Geordie, and his personal life may cause some serious problems.”
Meanwhile at home, the seasoned detective is working through some issues with his wife who is experiencing a surge of confidence as a new working woman.
“Once she got a job and found her worth as a woman in the 1950s, she’s not going to give it up easily,” Coulam said. “Geordie has to prove he’s worthy of her.”
Just out of prison after pleading guilty to charges of deviancy, former curate Leonard Finch has just survived the darkest time of his life and is looking for a fresh start.
“Leonard has found a way to keep his relationship with Daniel Marlowe going without drawing attention to it. They’re in a happy place,” she said. “The worst thing for him is that he is no longer a member of the clergy,” Coulam said.
Finch’s close friend Mrs. Chapman, played by Tessa Peake-Jones, has a personal secret that she’s keeping from everyone. “Hers is a story about opening up and about her friends helping her find her faith once again,” she said.
The six-part series will feature a number of special appearances, including Charlotte Ritchie, who played Nurse Barbara Hereward on the series Call the Midwife. “Getting Charlotte was a real coup for us actually,” Coulam said. “She’s such a great actress, and I didn’t even think in a million years that she would be able to do it because she’s so busy.”
Other guest stars include Emma Cunniffe (Roadkill), Philip Whitchurch (The English Patient), Rebecca Lacey (Call the Midwife), Rowena King (The Wilds), Anna Wilson-Jones (Victoria), Ellora Torchia (The Split) and Michael D. Xavier (Gentleman Jack).
Also this season, Brittney makes his Grantchester directing debut, stepping behind the camera to direct Episode Three, which airs July 24. “Tom was brilliant—he has a visual flair,” Coulam said. “It was quite funny to see him behind the camera in his full-on vicar robes,” she said. “It was really good fun for everyone.”
