PBS Distribution has revealed the Blu-ray release of
Masterpiece Mystery's
Grandchester: Season Two, starring James Norton (
Death Comes to Pemberley and Robson Green. Based on James Runcie's acclaimed "Grantchester Mysteries" novels,
Grantchester returns to Blu-ray on June 14th.
The series hearkens back to a simpler England, when World War II had just ended, Elizabeth II was the new queen, and the local vicar was the pillar of the community.
Norton stars as Reverend Sidney Chambers, a handsome, jazz-loving vicar who gets to the bottom of another baffling murder around the placid village of Grantchester. Green co-stars as his law-enforcement ally, Inspector Geordie Keating. Runcie styled Sidney after his late father, Lord Runcie, who was Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1980s. Like Sidney, the elder Runcie was a war hero before he entered the ministry, and he was a compassionate and amiable parish priest. Unfortunately, he never took up crime-solving.
Grantchester corrects that oversight.
Also starring are Morven Christie as Amanda Kendall, Sidney's first love and soul mate; Tessa Peake-Jones as Mrs. Maguire, the vicar's morally judgmental landlady; Al Weaver as Leonard Finch, the church's new assistant curate; and German actress Pheline Roggan as Hildegard Staunton, the strikingly beautiful widow of the series' first victim.
Grantchester is a co-production of Lovely Day and Masterpiece. The Executive Producer for Lovely Day is Diederick Santer. The Executive Producer for Masterpiece is Rebecca Eaton. The Producer is Emma Kingsman-Lloyd. The Directors are Harry Bradbeer, Jill Robertson and Tim Fywell. Adapted from the novel "Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death" by James Runcie, the series is written by Daisy Coulam.
The series is presented in 1080p with DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. PBS has yet to detail special features.