ITV has commissioned a new six-part crime drama series.

Grantchester is adapted from the novel Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death - the first of a projected six-book series titled The Grantchester Mysteries by author James Runcie.

Set in 1953 in the real hamlet of Grantchester in Cambridgeshire, the series focuses on the life of vicar Sidney Chambers, who teams up with Police Inspector Geordie Keating to investigate the suspicious death of one of his parishioners.

Sidney is described as "a tall and handsome man with a love of warm beer and hot jazz" who is "self-effacing, great company and a true romantic", while his cop partner is "a man two inches shorter than he'd like to be, with scuffed shoes and hair not as familiar with a comb as it should be".

Viewers will see the pair's unlikely partnership develop into a friendship, as well as learning of Sidney's doomed relationship with beautiful heiress Amanda Kendall, whose father is pushing her to marry an aristocratic beau.

Written by Daisy Coulam, the series will be produced by Lovely Day with the company's managing director and former EastEnders producer Diederick Santer executive producing.

Santer said: "James Runcie has created this brilliant character [Sidney] 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."

The cast is expected to be announced next year, with filming taking place between March and June around London, Cambridge and Grantchester.


I have read James Runcie books and enjoyed them