Ep. 57 - In Conversation with Rishi Nair, the New Vicar of GRANTCHESTER
Tom Brittney (Will Davenport) leaves GRANTCHESTER in Season 9. Robson Green (DI Geordie Keating) and the new vicar, Rishi Nair (Alphy Kottaram) get off on the wrong foot but find themselves investigating a murder Photo: ITV, MASTERPIECE
When Alphy came in…there was this kind of stigma towards him and, let's call it curiosity, towards him. Because I think that's important because that's what would've happened. That's true to life….GRANTCHESTER did that brilliantly in addressing that, but it was also really important that we didn't make the whole series about that. You know, it is still GRANTCHESTER and we don't want to deviate away from that just because we've someone like me who's playing the vicar.
Rishi Nair
In episode 57, The Boston Sisters talk with actor RISHI NAIR, who portrays Alphy Kottaram, the new vicar in season 9 of the PBS MASTERPIECE MYSTERY! series GRANTCHESTER. Alphy takes over the pulpit from departing vicar Will Davenport (Tom Brittney), and gets off to a rough start with DI Geordie Keating (Robson Green). This conversation with Rishi Nair explores historical drama representation and cultural identity, as well as race and identity in 1960s England through the story of a British-born Indian vicar. Nair shares stories about becoming part of the GRANTCHESTER cast family; and if acting and ministry are "callings," with similarities and challenges.
RISHI NAIR
Rishi Nair is an actor known for British television series including the vampire sit-com COUNT ABDULLA, the drama series HOLLYOAKS, and Jim Archer’s sci-fi comedy film BRIAN AND CHARLES, winner of the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award in 2022.
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GRANTCHESTER Season 9
GRANTCHESTER Season 9 - Episode 3 preview when Alphy Kottaram comes to Grantchester.
In season 9, it’s 1961 and times are very much changing in Grantchester. The Reverend Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) has begun to consider new challenges elsewhere, while Geordie and Cathy Keating (Kasey Ainsworth) deal with an independent Esme (Skye Degrutolla) out in a dangerous world. It’s not long before Alphy Kottaram (Rishi Nair) makes his arrival as the new vicar, enchanted by the village and remarkably gallant about his rocky welcome. But will the locals ever be able to accept him as one of their own? (Source: PBS MASTERPICE)
It’s not just the new vicar who has to deal with being treated like an outsider. The residents of the halfway house that Leonard (Al Weaver) has established is home to people who have been rejected by the larger community. Leonard’s partner, Daniel (Oliver Dimsdale), feels that he only gets acceptance because of his relationship with Leonard. There are several storylines that are about women feeling unseen and unappreciated, as well as Geordie’s daughter Esme and other young women facing sexism in their workplace.
When asked why he became a minister, Reverend Alphy Kottaram, the new vicar, expresses his intention to have a church that is known for “peace,” and that is “vibrant, fun, and full of all walks of life.”
GRANTCHESTER’s ensemble cast also includes Tessa Peake-Jones as Mrs. Sylvia Chapman/Mrs. C; Nick Brimble as Mrs. C’s husband, Jack Chapman; Bradley Hall as DC Larry Peters; Melissa Johns as Miss Scott and more.
GRANTCHESTER premiered on PBS MASTERPIECE MYSTERY in 2015. The series was developed for television by Daisy Coulam based on the popular mystery novels by James Runcie about a World War II veteran and single, unconventional Cambridgeshire vicar, Sidney Chambers (James Norton) who becomes an amateur sleuth alongside police detective Geordie Keating. GRANTCHESTER is, to date, PBS’s longest running MASTERPIECE MYSTERY! series.