Grace stars on fate of Craig Parkinson's Norman – and whether we'll hear more about him

Norman was last seen celebrating another case solved at the end of the season finale, but was nowhere to be seen in season 5 episode 1. The only mention of his character came in a conversation between Roy and Bella, when the former asked if the latter had heard anything from Norman. She said she hadn't, clearly emotional and aggravated about the matter.

RadioTimes.com caught up with Glenn star Richie Campbell and Cleo star Zoë Tapper, and asked the duo whether we were likely to hear anything more regarding Norman's fate in the rest of the season 5 episodes.

"No, I don't think so," Campbell said. "If we go back to the books, that world and the reality of police officers is that people come and go all the time. Norman is still in the books, but Bella is not, and we chose to keep Bella, played by Laura Elphinstone.

"But in the books, these characters just come and go. We bring in people who do specific things to help us with LPR checks or whatever, or vice versa. And I think that world is what officers tell us that they really like."

Campbell continued: "And I think that's something that we've actively chosen to do. We've actively said that Norman has gone, there is a bit of a loom over it in terms of how that affects Bella, but ultimately, that's kind of where it stops."

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Meanwhile, Tapper said that she hoped the show would "explore where Bella goes from here" after Norman's departure.

"I think obviously she has had some really trying times in her personal life as well," Tapper added, "and I think it's always exciting to maybe see how that will affect her onward trajectory."

Of course, just because Norman doesn't get a mention in the rest of season 5, doesn't mean he couldn't in future episodes. After all, the show has already been renewed for a sixth season, which is about to start filming.

Meanwhile, Roy star John Simm and Peter James, the author of the Roy Grace books, have both confirmed that conversations have begun regarding the long-term future of the show, and have suggested it could go past James's currently published books.

Grace season 5 continues on ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday 13th April, with seasons 1-4 available to stream on ITVX.

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