Yahoo News James Norton: 'Quitting Grantchester was the right choice'
James Norton's final episode of Grantchester is looming – and the actor has described leaving the ITV series after four years as "a real wrench".
Norton, who's played Reverend Sidney Chambers since the show began in 2014, told Digital Spy that quitting was "not an easy decision", but one he felt he had to make.
"With acting, you can't become complacent," the star said. "You've got to keep moving forward. For me, the priority is always to find a role which is new and unfamiliar and challenging, so that was the problem with staying on Grantchester.
"It was a world I had come to know, and inevitably you begin to learn less, so whilst it was the happiest time I've ever had on any set, I realised that it was probably going to lead to being less challenged [going forward]."
Though he briefly considered departing alongside Norton, co-star Robson Green – DI Geordie Keating – will be staying on the series, with Norton insisting that the pair "talked a lot" about their respective futures.
"He understood where I was coming from. In order for me to continue with Grantchester, it would've required, I think, another big storyline.
"I hope and I expect the show will go on for many more series, so if we were to have started another Amanda cycle [Morven Christie's character, with whom Sidney shared a complicated relationship]... that took three series and it was a wonderful journey to go on, but to start another journey like that... for me, it wasn't the right choice.
"Robson was very understanding of that. He's done so many of these [long-running series] so he knows what a heart-wrenching decision it was. So yeah, we discussed it a lot. We spent a lot of time working out what the best thing to do was, it wasn't a brief overnight decision."
Exactly how many episodes would be required to give Sidney a satisfactory send-off, and his replacement Reverend Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) a suitable handover, was also a point of much discussion.
"We talked about perhaps doing a special, a one-off," Norton revealed. "And we talked about me doing a whole series and having a new guy come in and we would run concurrently for six episodes.
"Y'know, there's one version of this where, at the beginning of the series, it's a letter from Sidney [saying], 'I had to pack my bag and leave...' and that would've just been so cynical. I would have hated to do that.
"Two episodes felt like the right amount. After that, you've got four full episodes of Tom Brittney and by the end of the series, I think Sidney will be a distant memory! All Tom needs is a few episodes and then the show will have assimilated his character, his energy and it'll be a new thing, in the best possible way."
Norton describes Sidney's farewell as "beautifully done", but admits to feeling "a tinge of FOMO" as Grantchester, with its new lead duo, prepares to march on without him.
"It's like leaving the party early – going home and knowing the party's going on without you. Having said that, I am also immensely proud and happy to be leaving with the show in such a strong place, and to have so much love for it from the fans.
"Robson is just the most personable, affable man... Robson Green loves being Robson Green, he just loves life... and it's contagious! So no doubt he and Tom will have a lovely time, and the party will continue!"
Grantchester continues on Friday at 9pm on ITV.
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