Grantchester viewers were left in tears on Wednesday night as Reverend Will Davenport, played by Tom Brittney, made his emotional exit from the hit ITV detective drama after five years. The second episode of the ninth season saw Will and DI Geordie Keating (Robson Green) investigate the death of a hotel manager and the discovery of an abandoned baby, but it was Will's departure that sparked a flood of emotional reactions on social media.
One fan wrote on X: 'I'm 29 years old and it's been a while since I cried at a TV show as hard as that.' Another posted: '#Will and #Geordie's friendship is beautiful. And watching Will leave is the heartbreaking evening I was completely not ready for.' A third added: 'Wow, Geordie to Will "I love you" and Will "I love you too". And he made Geordie proud every day.'
Tom Brittney, 34, joined Grantchester in 2019 for its fourth series, taking over the lead role from James Norton's Reverend Sidney Chambers. He announced his decision to leave in 2023, stating it was 'time for the baton to be passed'. The new season introduces Rishi Nair as Reverend Alphy Kottaram, who will team up with Geordie in future episodes.
The ninth series consists of eight hour-long episodes, with the next instalment airing on Wednesday January 22. It will focus on Alphy's arrival and his first collaboration with Geordie to solve a murder. Robson Green recently revealed that he and Nair were mobbed by around 2,000 super fans at a Grantchester press launch in Las Vegas last summer.
