Grantchester star on Alphy's arrival: 'It would be silly to pretend everyone just takes him in'

“It’s a bit of background for this, certainly!” the 33-year-old Londoner laughs. “Usually, it goes well with reading my acting contracts, and that’s about it.”

Though unlike his on-screen crime-solver, the Reverend Alphy Kotteram, Nair didn’t get involved with the law from any innate sense of justice – rather, he felt like his dream of acting might not be achievable for someone of his background.

“Growing up, I never really saw anyone who looked like me being a lead,” he says. “I didn’t know if it was a viable option, as a person of colour, trying to get into an industry that’s already so difficult to get into. So, I went to university and did my degree.

"But as soon as I graduated, the first thing I did was try and get back into acting. I started off doing plays in pubs in front of 30 people.”

Television roles followed, including a long-standing stint in Hollyoaks and parts in dramas like New Tricks and Whitstable Pearl. But Grantchester is a massive step up, with Nair following in the footsteps of original star James Norton, who left in 2019, and current lead Tom Brittney, who, after five series, waves goodbye to the Cambridge village in this week’s episode (with Nair making his first appearance next week).

“It’s great to see what James has gone on to do,” Nair says. “And I imagine Tom’s going to be exactly the same and go on to do really well. Unfortunately, Tom and I never had any scenes together, but we were in Cambridge in the same week.

"We sat in the hotel lobby for a couple of hours with a bottle of wine. He gave me some great advice about working on the show, and a lot of advice on looking after Robson Green! I’m sure that advice came from James initially, and has worked its way to me now."

When we see him on screen, it’s clear that Nair’s man of the cloth is different to his predecessors. In contrast to both Sidney Chambers and Will Davenport, Alphy is less tortured, says Nair, more upbeat and proudly working class, and has an instinctive distrust of the police as a man of colour growing up in 1940s and 50s Britain. Of course, that initially includes long-time series co-star Robson Green, aka DI Geordie Keating.

“The first thing that Alphy does when he sees Geordie is punch him in the face,” laughs Nair. “Someone reports a ‘swarthy gentleman’ has entered the vicarage, and they think he’s broken in.”

This acknowledges, he says, how incongruous Alphy would have been in a place like Grantchester. “It would be silly to pretend that he walks into this very white, 1960s village and everyone just takes him in, because actually, that’s not what would have happened. It would have been difficult for him, and we do touch upon that.

“There’s a scene where he walks into the pub and everyone stops and turns to look at him. It was important to address that – but it was also important for it not to be the overriding theme of the season.” So there are still plenty of murders to solve? “Absolutely – we’re in Grantchester after all!”

In many ways, Nair’s casting feels reflective of a broader change in TV. Death in Paradise now has its first non-white lead in Don Gilet, as does Doctor Who, with Ncuti Gatwa. Nair says he’s happy to be part of a trend if it means one day, kids like him don’t put their dreams on the back burner.

“Hopefully, seeing someone of colour like myself playing a lead will make young kids think this is something that’s viable for them and gives them the drive to go to drama school – rather than it just being a fantasy that may never happen.”

He appears slightly less comfortable with another traditional part of the Grantchester gig – being the nation’s new, buttoned-up heartthrob. The very idea seems to make him feel a little hot under the (dog) collar…

“Is that what the vicar is – the nation’s heartthrob?” he says, slightly nervously.

“I think Robson might have something to say about that!”

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Grantchester season 9 will begin airing on ITV1 on Wednesday 8th January 2025 at 9pm.

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