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cowshill
Reviews
Grantchester (2014)
Watchable but Could Have Been So Much Better
Disclaimer: I have read the books and am very disappointed in how ITV has brought them to television, but I'll try to avoid criticisms that are merely, "It's not the way it was in the book." (Although I have plenty of them!)
As indicated in my summary, I rate Grantchester as watchable. If you enjoy light-hearted period detective shows then you will probably be quite happy whiling away an hour now and then viewing it. The issue is that it could have been so much better. The biggest problem is with the portrayals of the main character, Sidney, and his long-time lady friend, Amanda. In the television show they are both middle class, plain vanilla, rom-com characters. (Well, I may be overstating that by a little, but not by much!) In contrast, their characters in the book were both rather eccentric, upper class individuals. Amanda, particularly, sparkled in the books with wit, intelligence, and a tendency to do the unexpected. Would that the television Amanda could do the same. This fault becomes all the more apparent if one compares Grantchester to other period detective books that have been brought to television. Whether it be Poirot, Campion, or Peter Wimsey, these other adaptations all had that wit and sparkle that brought the shows to life and would, I suspect, have been approved of by their original authors. Somehow I can not imagine James Runcie being very pleased with ITV's Grantchester.