ITV crime drama Grantchester returns for series 8, with Robson Green as DI Geordie Keating, and Tom Brittney as Grantchester’s Reverend Will Davenport.
This time around, USA will air the series first from 9th July 2023, with ITV in the UK following from 11th January 2024.
The new series will pick up from the events of season seven, which ended with the joyous occasion of Will’s wedding to Cathy’s widowed niece, Bonnie Evans. However, it looks like Will’s marital bliss will be short-lived as his world is “rocked by a terrible accident”.
The synopsis continues: “He’s always preached the word of a compassionate God – but how can he now, when his despair leads him on a dangerous downward spiral?
“Geordie has found a new contentment in his relationship with Cathy, but when they are both confronted with shocking announcements at work their happiness is threatened. As Mrs C, Leonard, Jack and Daniel rally around, both Will and Geordie find themselves in unfamiliar, emotional waters and murder is always around the corner.”
The new series promises to be an “explosive” one, tackling themes such as “faith, forgiveness, and redemption”, which “tests Will and Geordie to the limit“.
Adapted from the Grantchester Mysteries novels by James Runcie, the show has performed solidly for ITV in previous years, regularly attracting over five million viewers.
Adapted from the Grantchester Mysteries novels by James Runcie
Grantchester S8 Episode Guide
Episode 1
USA: 9 July 2023 – UK: 11 January 2024
The body of a 19 -year-old biker is found in a field, the day after a charity motorbike race organized by Will. Ron Weller, a mechanic who trains young bikers, his son Jimmy, and many others mourn the loss of a fellow rider. But as Geordie and Will begin to investigate, they realise that beneath the happy surface there are tensions and rivalries.
Geordie is surprised when DCI Wallace questions his longevity in his role. Is Wallace suggesting retirement? Will and Bonnie have settled into married life, They make a good team despite Bonnie’s lack of personal faith. They are expecting their first child together, however parenting is a challenge and clashes over how to parent Ernie throw a spotlight on Will’s anxiety
Episode 2
USA: 16 July 2023 – UK: 18 January 2024
Will is involved in a fatal motorbike accident. He had promised Bonnie that he wouldn’t ride the bike at all and is devastated to realise that he is responsible for the death of a fellow man. He struggles to forgive himself. DCI Elliot Wallace makes it his mission to ensure that Will is held accountable. This is personal. Geordie does’t believe that Will is guilty but his efforts to exonerate his friend stray dangerously into acting recklessly himself. Miss Scott and Larry question his integrity.
Geordie’s investigations uncover another body near the scene of the accident. A victim of assault. Could the two victims have known each other? Are the incidents related? And does this exonerate Will? Mrs C, Cathy, and Jack worry for Will’s state of mind, especially with Bonnie away. Meanwhile Elliot is determined to close down the Halfway house and Leonard and the residents of his halfway house face harassment from the police.
Episode 3
USA: 23 July 2023 – UK: 25 January 2024
An art exhibition at the university seems a good way to cheer Will. Bonnie is away and Cathy in particular can see that Will is still struggling to forget the accident and his responsibility for the death of a fellow man. But the drinks are disrupted by a protest, it all seems harmless high jinks until they realise that during the chaos, a valuable painting has been stolen. And a little later one of the college porters is found murdered. Is the killing linked to the protest, the theft, or is it something altogether
different?
Leonard is starting to find managing the halfway house is harder than anticipated and more demanding of his time. He enjoys the challenge but it is coming at the expense of his private life. Daniel encourages Leonard to consider hiring some extra help, Leonard refuses.
Episode 4
USA: 30 July 2023 – UK: 1 February 2024
Following an altercation with his housemates, Alfie, an Italian immigrant and one of the residents at Leonard’s half way house, is found dead. The murder has been made to look like suicide but Geordie quickly realises that Alfie has been murdered and the residents are the only suspects. The neighbours are appalled and even as the police inquiry gets under way, Leonard comes under pressure to close the place down.
Even Geordie feels that Leonard’s management style has been indulgent when they are dealing with troubled and even dangerous men. Daniel questions what Leonard is doing. Will feels guilty that when Alfie tried to talk to him the night before he was killed, Will didn’t listen. Will is tormented by his own demons, and unable to forget the motorbike accident, he fears that God has abandoned him.
Episode 5
USA: 6 August 2023 @ 9pm – UK: 8 February 2024
Two men are poisoned, one dies, but who was the intended target? Elliot hands the case to Larry while Geordie is placed on desk duty. He is forcing Geordie to retire. Larry is baffled by the case, the victim turns out to be a blackmailer up to something which seems to involve Hungarians exiles or possibly Russians. He wisely calls on Miss Scott for help but in the end both turn to Geordie who helps them uncover the real story.
Geordie is painfully aware that something is very wrong with Will. He is really not himself, one minute depressed and moody, the next ‘back to his old self’ with redoubled energy. Will attempts to help Leonard in his efforts to woo the neighbours, who are still campaigning for the half way house to close. But Will loses his cool and ends up abusing the very person who has come to help. Geordie finally discovers what is really going on and confronts Will. Will realises that he has made a horrible mess of everything and, deeply ashamed, he runs.
Episode 6
USA: 6 August 2023 @10pm – UK: 15 February 2024
Will is looking to be punished. He ends up battered and bruised in the middle of nowhere before he is picked up by the local copper, Mac. Mac calls Geordie to collect him. Geordie is furious with Will, feeling he is letting down Bonnie and Ernie but before he can talk sense into him, they both become embroiled in a murder case.
A farming couple have been stabbed to death. Geordie realises that their niece and nephew, who are back at the station are the suspects. Before he and Mac get back, Will is abducted and forced to ‘drive
away’ by the prime suspect, a troubled lad of sixteen and his young sister. Geordie and Mac catch up with these suspected killers but it is Will who eventually discovers the truth about what really happened and why. By the time Geordie drives Will back to Grantchester, Will is a changed man, determined to put what has happened behind him.
In his and Geordie’s absence Leonard has been the unprotected victim of Elliot’s vendetta. The half way house is again raided but by now there are so few residents left that Leonard knows it must close. Until Larry learns to do the right thing and confronts Elliot with unforeseen consequences for everyone. Will is reunited with Bonnie and seeks her forgiveness just as she goes into labour.
