Filming to commence on second series of Grantchester

Filming is about to commence on the second series of Grantchester, starring James Norton and Robson Green

ITV today confirmed that filming is about to commence on the second series of Grantchester, produced by Lovely Day.

James Norton (Happy Valley, Death Comes To Pemberley) will reprise his role as Sidney Chambers, the charismatic, charming, crime-fighting clergyman, and Robson Green (Strikeback, Wire In The Blood) will return as his partner in crime, Police Inspector Geordie Keating.

Tessa Peake-Jones (Marchlands, Only Fools and Horses) will be donning her housecoat once again as she plays Sidney's indomitable housekeeper Mrs Maguire. Morven Christie (Hunted, From There To Here) will be back as Sidney's glamorous friend Amanda and Kacey Ainsworth (EastEnders, The Wright Way) will return as Geordie's wife Cathy. Al Weaver (Southcliffe, Sherlock) reprises his role as curate Leonard Finch, not forgetting the gorgeous black Labrador Dickens, who will also return.

In 1954 murderers were still hanged. And in this new series Sidney and Geordie have to face up to the consequences of becoming such an accomplished crime fighting duo. For Sidney, in particular, as the vicar in a small village this becomes increasingly difficult.

In the final episode of the last series, Geordie was shot on duty. A year on, he appears to have put this behind him. But underneath his carefree exterior there are new feelings of vulnerability, and this puts a strain on his relationship with Cathy, and his friendship with Sidney.

Sidney is still single and Geordie makes it his mission to find him a woman. But the handsome vicar clearly still only has eyes for Amanda whom we last saw when she was about to marry Sidney's rival Guy.

The six new episodes will be filmed in London, Cambridge, and Grantchester, the picturesque Cambridgeshire village whose residents warmly welcomed the production team and embraced the drama being filmed in their community.

Grantchester, which attracted a series average of 6.6 million viewers and a 24% share when it debuted in October 2014, is based on The Grantchester Mysteries by James Runcie. The lead writer is Daisy Coulam (EastEnders, Death In Paradise), who was responsible for adapting the first series. John Jackson (Being Human, Lip Service) and Joshua St Johnston (The Enfield Haunting, Material Girl) will also write for the series.

Grantchester is produced by Lovely Day, a sister company of Kudos, and will be executive produced by Lovely Day's Managing Director Diederick Santer (Cutting It, EastEnders) and produced by Emma Kingsman-Lloyd (DCI Banks, Lip Service), both of whom were responsible for the first series.

We were delighted with the response to Grantchester and are so pleased to be making a second series, said Diederick. All our key characters are returning, we've got some terrific new stories, and we're looking forward to taking further Grantchester's unique mix of character, crime, humour and emotion.

The new series has been commissioned for ITV by Director of Drama Steve November and Controller of Drama Victoria Fea.

James Norton and Robson Green have become a popular crime solving duo and it's great to see them return to ITV, said Steve. The new series promises six new episodes filed with mystery, intrigue and character driven plots, with lots of twists and turns. Whist the drama is set in a beautiful, picturesque village, we'll be delving deeper and darker than before.

The series will be directed by Tim Fywell (Happy Valley, Masters of Sex) who also directed the first series, and David O'Neill (Death In Paradise, Law and Order: UK).

Grantchester is a Lovely Day and MASTERPIECE co-production for ITV and Endemol Shine International hold the international distribution rights.

Grantchester is due to transmit on ITV in 2016.

LINK:	http://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/filming-commence-second-...
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