[7] In the Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester during the 1950s, Anglican vicar and former Scots Guards officer Sidney Chambers (James Norton), and subsequently his successor Will Davenport (Tom Brittney), work with the overworked Detective Inspector Geordie Keating (Robson Green) to forge an unlikely partnership in solving crimes.

Keating's gruff, methodical approach to policing complements Chambers' more intuitive techniques of coaxing information from witnesses and suspects.

[9] The second series was filmed in autumn 2015,[10] and guest stars included Neil Morrissey, Claudie Blakley, Nigel Planer, Andrew Knott, Nicky Henson and Oliver Dimsdale.

Without Norton's participation, there was talk of ending the series, but Grantchester had proven to be so popular with television viewers that the producers felt that the show could continue with a new male lead.

At the start of the fourth series, actor Tom Brittney joined the cast as Will Davenport, a former inner-city chaplain who was appointed as Sidney Chambers' replacement as the Anglican vicar of Grantchester.

The addition of Brittney to the series gave the opportunity for the remaining cast members to expand their roles, particularly Kasey Ainsworth as Cathy Keating, Geordie's wife, and Oliver Dimsdale as Daniel Marlowe, a local photographer who is also Leonard Finch's best friend and lover.

By the time the fourth season began, Cathy was already working as a saleswoman in a department store, and Daniel's relationship with Leonard had become more intimate and intense.

On 19 August 2022, ITV announced that an eighth series had been commissioned and filming had begun, with its release originally scheduled for late summer/early autumn 2023 but now delayed to early 2024.

In 2023, ITV announced that Series 9 would be the last to star Tom Brittney, and that he would be replaced by former Hollyoaks actor Rishi Nair in the role of Alphy Kotteram.

Michael Pilgrim of The Daily Telegraph wrote: "Delightfully neat and economical of plot, it's Cluedo with cassocks and just enough noir for the modern palate.

Chambers uses his position to make inquiries, bringing him the disapproving attention of an overworked local police detective, Inspector Geordie Keating.

As Sidney and Geordie investigate, they discover both incidents are related to illegal homosexual activity, revealing deep local and legal prejudices.

Sidney discovers Abigail was pregnant, and that his superiors in the church were hiding a secret – Sam Milburn, a fellow vicar with a dark past.

The apparent suicide of a daredevil lecturer, fallen from a spire of King's College chapel, leads Geordie and Sidney into the world of Soviet spies.

Leonard uncovers evidence that the Archdeacon knew that Milburn was a serial abuser of young girls and tried to cover it up, but his celebratory mood is dashed by Daniel Marlowe, the gay photographer he has been stepping out with.

The discovery of two wedding rings stuffed in the victim's throat alludes to another suspect Geordie knows who he believes killed nine years earlier in the same way.

Leonard and his new lady friend, Hilary, are witnesses to an armed robbery at the post office, and they identify garage owner, Walter Dunn, a known felon, as the robber.

Geordie continues his affair with Margaret, Leonard proposes to Hilary, and Sidney finally gives in to his feelings for Amanda.

Sidney leaves his clerical collar behind and hitchhikes across the country to find Ronnie, Mrs Maguire's husband, at a Romany camp and recover the money he had taken.

Geordie's behaviour grows more and more unstable as he wrestles with family problems and violently takes it out on a suspect, a troubled friend of Sidney's.

As the vicar grows closer to the truth about the missing child, he is forced to choose between his love for Amanda and his faith when he realises the community needs him more than ever.

Mrs Maguire marries Jack Chapman and at the wedding reception, Leonard and Geordie renew their respective relationships.

It is 1956 and with Amanda long gone, Sidney's life now revolves around the church services and the interminable meetings of the Parochial Council and their plans for a village fete.

Sidney Chambers attends a talk by the Reverend Nathaniel Todd, a key part of the Civil Rights Movement in the USA.

During the event, protestors disrupt Todd's speech and release fireworks, causing the audience to panic and leading to a crush as dozens of people try to escape through a locked door.

Geordie suspects foul play when computer laboratory head Professor Simms keels over and dies from mercury poisoning.

Geordie seeks advice from Leonard, and the pair start to uncover the surprisingly messy love lives of Simms' colleagues.

Will is settling into the new routines of his life in Grantchester: sermons and services in the church, working the punch bag at the gym and suffering sniping comments from Leonard in the vicarage.

But you cannot outrun it forever, and when one vicious beating leads to a grisly murder at a sprawling ancestral home, scandal threatens to engulf the Davenport family, and life will never be the same for Will again.

A strange new case unfolds: the murder of a Teddy Boy at a dance hall, which in Geordie's opinion is proof that the country has truly gone to the dogs.