The Guilty Vicar

Can Grantchester’s compassionate man of the cloth redeem himself after causing a tragedy?

- DIANE SNYDER

Grantchester

SEASON PREMIERE

Sunday, July 9, 9/8c, PBS (check local listings at pbs.org)

HE’S NEWLY MARRIED, with a baby on the way and a stepson who adores him. But Tom Brittney’s crime-solving vicar, Will Davenport, goes down his darkest path yet on the 1960-set eighth season of Grantchester, PBS’s unassuming and irresistible British mystery-drama. After inadvertently causing a devastating accident (no spoilers here!), Will cannot absolve himself of his overwhelming sense of guilt and sinks into isolation.

“I think because of Will’s inherent nature and his upbringing—being made to feel everything was his fault—he’s always been a very self-flagellating person,” Brittney says. “So even though it’s not his fault, it doesn’t trump the voices in his head telling him he’s a bad person.”