Grantchester’s Charlotte Ritchie on difference to Call the Midwife role

In ITV's returning detective drama Grantchester she plays Bonnie Davenport, the feisty character who married crime-solving vicar Will (Tom Brittney) in the previous season.

Fans of Ritchie's work will recall that her Call the Midwife character, Barbara Gilbert, also went on to marry a man of the cloth in Reverend Tom Hereward (Jack Ashton).

Addressing the connection, Ritchie joked: "Yes, and now I'm looking for a third vicar to marry, if you hear about any shows with single vicars in them!"

The actor, who is also known for Fresh Meat and Taskmaster, went on to say that she had some initial doubts about playing Bonnie on the grounds that it could prove too similar to her Call the Midwife work.

She explained: "I did hesitate... because I just thought that it might seem surreal, or kind of meta that there's this actress who's really into marrying vicars on screen.

"But then I thought Bonnie was such a different character from Barbara. Barbara was quite sweet and Bonnie feels different. And I didn't want to be so arrogant as to think that everybody who watched Midwife would watch Grantchester.

"I assumed not everyone would have watched everything I’ve been in."

Quizzed on what the latest episodes of Grantchester have in store for Bonnie and Will, Ritchie teased: "They’re doing very well and are very much in love. I think they're very into each other and have a shared sense of humour.

"Bonnie’s pregnant and they're looking forward to the baby coming. It's all pretty jolly... What could happen to ruin all that?"

One potential point of conflict is Bonnie's lack of faith, which stands in stark contrast to her new husband.

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Ritchie added: "She really doesn’t have that faith that he does, but I think they're both willing to make it work. It's a really interesting question more broadly, whether people of different faiths can have relationships.

"They can, but I think it has to involve a lot of empathy and patience... it's definitely difficult."

Ritchie recently had a small role in blockbuster film Wonka, which was co-written by her Ghosts co-star Simon Farnaby and also featured another of the sitcom's alumni, Mathew Baynton, in a major role.

Grantchester returns to ITV at 9pm on Thursday 11th January 2023. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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