ITV has announced details of a new crime drama set in Cambridgeshire in 1953.

Grantchester will star Robson Green (Strike Back) as over-worked Police Inspector, Geordie Keating, alongside James Norton (Death Comes to Pemberley) as Sidney Chambers.

The six-part series focuses on the life of Sidney Chambers, a charismatic, charming clergyman who turns investigative vicar when one of his parishioners dies in suspicious circumstances.

Adapted from James Runcie’s novel, ‘Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death’, Grantchester is written by Daisy Coulam (EastEnders, Casualty).

The cast also features Morven Christie (Twenty Twelve) as beautiful heiress Amanda Kendall, Tessa Peake-Jones (Only Fools and Horses) as housekeeper Mrs Maguire, and Kacey Ainsworth (EastEnders) as Geordie’s wife Cathy.

Other cast members include Al Weaver (Southcliffe) as Sidney’s moustachioed curate, Leonard Finch, and German actress Pheline Roggan as stunning widow Hildegard Staunton.

The official synopis reads: “A tall and handsome man with a love of warm beer and hot jazz, Sidney is self-effacing, great company and a true romantic.  He conscientiously undertakes his parish duties at the church of St Andrew and St Mary’s, and has the ear of his congregation who respect his unique moral insights and dry humour.  Sidney thinks the best of people, but intuitively asks all the right questions which often results in an epiphany!

“Troubled by nightmares and recurring flashbacks to the time he served in the Scot’s Guards, Sidney is the moral compass of the drama with a desire to put right the wrongs of the past  – “we cannot erase our pasts however hard we try.  Instead we must carry them with us into the future.”

ITV’s Director of Drama Steve November commented: “Grantchester is an exciting commission for ITV Drama and we’re delighted to be working with Diederick Santer. Daisy Coulam’s scripts are vivid and beautifully written with some wonderful characters at the heart of the stories. There’s an emotional truth and gravity to this series which makes it a very compelling drama.”

Executive producer Diederick Santer added: “Sidney is a charming, but complex character, a man of faith burdened by his past despite a distinguished wartime record, he’s funny, dashing and inquisitive.  He loves being a parish priest in the exquisite village of Grantchester, but somehow it’s not enough and he still finds time to fall in and out of love and solve crimes. James Runcie has created this brilliant character and this glorious world, which Daisy Coulam is now bringing to the screen in her wonderful and lavish scripts, and I can’t wait for ITV’s audience to get to know him too.”

Grantchester begins filming this month in London, Cambridge and Grantchester.

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