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T10 WHATS UP! June 14 - 20, 2020 If you haven't been watching "Grantchester" from the begin- ning, you may not know that Will was not the original vicar of Grantchester. In fact, his face is practically new to the series. The town's leading clergy was previously Sidney Cham- bers (James Norton, "Little Women," 2019), who left the show towards the beginning of last season. Chambers, who loved God, jazz and drinking, was the tour-de-force that gave the show its momentum. Bro- ken after serving in the war, he learned tough and compelling lessons about faith and love and repentance. His character made the ultimate choice be- tween his deep love for Aman- da Kendall (Morven Christie, "The A Word") and the church to which he had planned to dedicate his life. We were crushed by his tear-jerking de- parture, but his exit made sense and allowed for new blood to be pumped into the show's ever-pulsing plot. All these deep and brooding characters are actually based on those in the series of novels known as The Grantchester Mysteries, written by James Runcie. Like their television counterpart, the books are also set in the town of Grantchester and follow Canon Sidney Chambers in his crime-solving efforts. Published between 2012 and 2017, there are six books in the set, and interestingly, each book is actually made up of multiple short stories, much like the tales of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but these mid-century tales have a lot more emotion driving their main characters. The show that's grown from the rich soil of Runcie's books first aired in October 2014 and is produced by Masterpiece and Lovely Day. It features Die- derick Santer ("Jane Eyre") and Rebecca Eaton ("Sherlock") as executive producers and has been met with high praise from both fans and critics, scoring an impressive 95% from Rotten Tomatoes. It's safe to say the show is in good hands. With his excellent performances in both "Out- lander" and "Call the Midwife," Brittney is the perfect choice to play the dreamy-eyed Will and has successfully ushered in a new wave of intrigue and dra- ma. This vicar is much younger than the last and represents a generational shift that was hap- pening across Britain during the late 1950s. Will is not haunted by the war, and he starts off high on an ecclesias- tical pedestal, perfectly posi- tioned for a fall from grace. With so many avenues for his character to take, it'll be excit- ing to see where Season 5 of "Grantchester" takes him. We haven't been left totally in the dark about where the show will go from here, how- ever. We're seeing more of Ge- ordie and Cathy's dynamic re- lationship as Cathy settles into her new job. In fact, everything seems to be "settling in" as Will becomes comfortable with the town and its resi- dents, gaining their trust and learning their stories. But when everything appears to be perfect within the town of Grantchester, you know there's trouble brewing behind the scenes. PBS has hinted that this could be the show's darkest season yet. However, the show has always been great at using humor to cut the tension. We're predicting that, with what we've seen from Will and Geordie's relationship so far, this season could be one of the most entertaining, too. Even if you haven't been a diehard "Granchester" fan (like some of us), now is the perfect time to get yourself hooked. Watch Davenport and Keating team up to solve some twisted murders on the idyllic British countryside. Tune in Sunday, June 14, for the premiere of Season 5 on PBS. Tom Brittney as seen in "Grantchester" continued from page T2 Saving souls and solving crime: Cop teams up with vicar in 'Grantchester' TV FEATURE