This script has been lightly edited for clarity.

 

Jace Lacob: I’m Jace Lacob and you’re listening to MASTERPIECE Studio.

Larry Peters could be described as many things: loyal… team player… after all he did take a bullet for the job last season. But “sharp as a tack” isn’t the way most would describe him, especially his boss Geordie. But now that Larry has found love, he’s taking any chance he can to improve himself.

 

CLIP

Larry: It’s a bit of a conundrum, boss.

Geordie: A conundrum? Are you allowed to use that many syllables?

Larry: I’m trying to better myself, for Jennifer. Miss Scott.

Geordie: Yeah, I know who Jennifer is, Larry.

 

Last season, Larry boldly proposed to Miss Scott, who turned him down out of shock and embarrassment. This season, they’ve moved the needle and are officially a couple, not so covertly canoodling in the police station. While Larry is over the moon, he continues to shoot the moon and proposes to Jennifer Scott once again. But there are still obstacles for the young couple.

 

CLIP

Miss Scott: If we get married, I’ll have to resign. Exactly how many married women do you see working at the station?

Larry: That’s alright. You’ll have your hands full with a baby in a year.

Miss Scott: Raise your own bloody baby! Do you really think I’m just going to retire to mother a brood or be a housewife? It’s just not who I am.

 

Through Larry’s persistence, and Miss Scott’s vulnerability and honesty, the pair find a way to thread the needle of marriage and career and finally agree to get married… in secret… at first. 

 

CLIP

Larry: I’ve got sweaty palms.

Miss Scott: It’s not that warm in here.

Larry: About this afternoon.

Miss Scott: You’re not getting cold feet, are you?

Larry: No. I’ve been waiting for this since the day I first clapped eyes on you. I can’t believe it’s actually happening. After today, we can call each other husband and—

Miss Scott: Sshh!

 

Our guest today is actor Bradley Hall, who explores Larry Peters’ transformation from the station youngblood to married man.

 

Jace Lacob: And this week we are joined by Grantchester star Bradley Hall. Welcome.

Bradley Hall: Hello Jace. How are you?

Jace Lacob: I’m good. How are you doing?

Bradley Hall: Yeah, very good, thanks. Very good. It’s nice to finally be able to speak to you. I’ve heard a lot of the other actors and obviously Daisy as well, I’ve heard her podcast with you, so it’s really nice to finally be able to chat to you myself.

Jace Lacob: So you were warned.

Bradley Hall: Absolutely.

Jace Lacob: You joined the cast of Grantchester way back at the start of Series Four during that handover between James Norton and Tom Brittney. And I went back to see just how Larry Peters was introduced in the script for your first episode. It says, “Larry Peters, a young copper, 20s, babyfaced, wet behind the ears.” What did you make of the character initially when you were cast?

Bradley Hall: It’s a funny one because if I think right back to how I auditioned for this show, it was a tape. And I had quite a few auditions in that week for quite varying different projects. And I wasn’t given much about Grantchester. I was given a couple of scenes and there wasn’t much really to go on. I mean, that little brief that you’ve just said is exactly what I saw for my self-tape. And I think the scene, it was when I was maybe in a bar and I shouldn’t have been there because I think it was working hours. And it was like, “Oh, I’m working boss, trust me”, or whatever. And obviously I was drinking at the time.

So for me, I was kind of like, how do I, where am I, how am I even pitching this? Because how much of a detective is this guy if he’s out drinking in the middle of the day? And I think because I was a bit unsure about what they wanted, it kind of really helped me do that take because I think once they saw me go, I don’t really know what I’m doing with this, they kind of went, do you know what, we think you might be Larry.

And it was great for me because I thought, that’s really nice that I can use my naivety and sort of unknown of what you want me to do here. And actually that can get us started with this character. And when I got the call to come on board, it was for two episodes. So, I kind of felt at that time like I wasn’t quite sure where we were going to go with it. But it became quite apparent as we went on and the show started that there was obviously more life in it. He has gone on such a journey over the seven series of the show. So it’s been a real pleasure to develop him with Daisy and Emma and be trusted with that story.

Jace Lacob: What’s amazing to me is, as you say, this is your seventh series of Grantchester and to me there are few characters who have grown more on the show than Larry. He started off as a bit narky, sometimes cruel, especially towards Leonard. And he has emerged as a “fan favorite,” and that’s a quote, “fan favorite.” How would you describe the trajectory of the character? Do you really see him as having grown up over the past seven series?

Bradley Hall: The way that I see Larry is that he kind of exists in the space ‘before Miss Scott’, and then the ‘during Miss Scott’ early stuff, and then the ‘post Ms. Scott’ years, which is obviously once they have that kiss. So he sort of exists in those three different worlds and he has totally changed and matured. And I think a lot of that is down to how much has Miss Scott rubbed off on him? It’s the sort of ‘Miss Scott effect’ on Larry.

So he says things that he wouldn’t have previously said, and I think he’s genuinely a kinder and better version of himself. He’s still definitely Larry, but he’s just a better version of where he could have been. The trajectory that I think he was on at the end of Five, going into Six, that trajectory, and then how he’s kind of managed to avoid going down that not particularly nice lane and he’s kind of steered himself back. I think that’s a lot to do with the Miss Scott effect.

Jace Lacob: I mean, he’s using words like conundrum now.

Bradley Hall: Absolutely.

Jace Lacob: In his early appearances, Larry has an interesting relationship with Geordie Keating, who sort of reluctantly takes Larry under his wing as his bag man. There’s a generational gap there. There’s a bit of a chasm.

 

CLIP

Larry: These were the ones that were broken. A boot maybe? A hammer? Imagine that, a machine having a memory.

Geordie: Can it remember who did it?

Larry: Don’t think so.

Geordie: Not much good to us then, is it?

 

Jace Lacob: What does Larry make of Geordie at the start of their working relationship?

Bradley Hall: Yeah, so right at the very start, I pitched it that, because there I had this vicar that was very present in the station and for me it was kind of like, how annoying would I find that, like as a detective, if this guy’s coming in and doing my job for me with the boss that I want to be working with? So, because I had a lot of that that I could play with, with Will, Tom Brittany, who was brilliant obviously for four or five seasons of the show. And because I had that to play with, it felt very much like I could constantly try and fight for his attention almost. Almost like, he’s the dad and I’m the youngest son, and there’s a middle son and he’s doing really well and I’ve got to try and compete for his attention. That’s kind of where I was playing it to start with.

And as we went on, obviously Larry was never really providing the good answers. Will was always doing that. Will was always finding the clues, and I think that became very frustrating for Larry. And I think through Four and Five, he was kind of fighting against that constantly and trying to find his place and trying to make Geordie see him for the man that he could be. And then when we went into Seven and Eight, we obviously introduced DCI Elliot Wallace played by Michael Xavier who’s brilliant. And that changed the dynamic there because suddenly I didn’t have to impress Geordie anymore, I had to impress the bigger boss.

And that shifted it because I think in a way that kind of made Geordie go, well, hang on, Larry works with me. Do you know what I mean? It was a nice angle there which was very playful. And it was nice because I think what the payoff was that by the end of Eight then, was that there was a chance when DCI Elliot Wallace had attacked Leonard, there was a moment where I could report that incident and do the right thing. And I think by doing that, there was a moment where Geordie saw Larry and went, you’ve kind of come full circle. You’ve landed where I wanted you to be. And there was an acceptance between the two from Eight.

So I think we exist in a world post the end of Eight in a different world to where we started in the early days. Larry was a loner and he was a loser. He was daft and he was just not ever on the same playing field as Geordie. And I think now he exists in a world where he’s kind of genuinely, he’s not definitely on Geordie’s level, but he’s a lot closer to Geordie. And I think Geordie has that respect for him now. And it’s a really nice relationship that’s developed there through the years.

Jace Lacob: I mean, he took a bullet. We’ll talk about that in a second.

Bradley Hall: Absolutely.

Jace Lacob: He’s grown up. We talked about Larry and Geordie, but I am curious how different your rapport with Robson is compared to that onscreen dynamic. How did Robson help steer your experience on your first few Grantchester episodes?

Bradley Hall: Robson, honestly, he is the leader of the pack as to speak. He settles everybody down. So if anyone’s got any concerns at all, he’s got a really sensible head when it comes to dealing with any sort of worries or anything like that. He takes it out of context and he goes look, break it down like this, and he simplifies things. So he’s really, really good. And I’ve witnessed it now for seven whole years I’ve been working with him.

And I’ve seen him take the guest actors when they come in, and we do get a lot of graduates from drama school and a lot of them are, it is their first job. And you can see the fear that is in their face and it’s in their being. And he’s so good at going, we’re just having fun here. The pressure is off. You don’t need to feel any pressure because if you get it wrong, we just go again. There’s no problem. And actually, that’s so reassuring as an actor to have that because you don’t often get it on a TV set when you are up against time constraints constantly, and it is fast paced and you don’t always feel like you do have the chance to make a mistake.

Whereas, because Robson is so good at saying, guys, we all make mistakes, I make mistakes. And it’s true, once you know that, once you’re relaxed, it means that actually you can have fun. And as soon as you start having fun, you can do really good work.

I can see what he does with the guest stars and then days when, for example, he’s not there and maybe I’m doing scenes with the guest stars, I have the chance to go, actually, I’m going to steal a little bit of Robson’s wise words here and I can reassure them. And it’s really nice because it’s not necessarily something that I would necessarily think about, and then just because I’ve been working with Robson, I can go, actually I’m going to do this, and I’m going to help this person out. And you see it, the effect is instant. It just happens straight away.

He’s such a nice guy. He really is. He’s the perfect, perfect mix of a professional actor that’s got all of his homework and it’s all in his head and he’s got all of his lines down and he knows exactly the scene numbers and he knows the details of the scenes, but he is also then capable of playing a fart sound on his phone just to try and make everyone laugh. When you’ve got Robson who’s telling you a joke literally just before they turn over or bursting into song when they shout cut, it relaxes the whole set. He’s a great guy. He really is. I’m going to miss him a lot. When the show finishes, I’m going to miss Robson. He’s great.

Jace Lacob: Aw. I want to talk a little bit more about Larry and Jennifer Scott. They meet in Series Six. There is this moment where we don’t know where things are going to go for the two of them, but they enter into this rather beautiful and rather unlikely friendship with such sparkly banter between them.

 

CLIP

Larry: Book her into interview room three.

Miss Scott: Success?

Larry: Open shut. I’ll be out of here before you have time to make me a cuppa.

Miss Scott: If you’re going to be that quick you can make your own.

 

Jace Lacob: What did you make of their friendship in the first few series together?

Bradley Hall: When Miss Scott was introduced, it was very much like she was this glamorous, obviously female in this heavily male orientated station. So, that was great for Larry. Larry had been rejected by Ellie in Series Five, the journalist played by Lauren Carse, who was brilliant, loved Lauren, absolutely loved her. But yeah, because he was rejected, he came fresh from that rejection, he was then trying his chance elsewhere being like, what other women are around me now? Where can I find female attention?

And as soon as he tried to flirt and play games with her, he was batted away constantly, constantly, constantly. And I think it was so fun to play because it was, how many times can this guy try and win this woman over before she finally just says fine, okay. And it took a long time. It took many, many seasons for her to finally give in. But she really was great at going, no, like, this is work. It’s work, it’s work. Constantly, just work. But also I think it got to a point after I think Seven, Seven was a changing point there because there was stuff going on with DCI Elliot Wallace, and I think that kind of energy took Larry away from Miss Scott a little bit because he was kind of being like, she doesn’t really like me. Geordie doesn’t really like me, Will doesn’t like me, but this guy does like me.

So his energy and his persona kind of shifted a little bit there, and I think their friendship wasn’t as strong. But when we came into Eight, and Larry lost his mum, that was a moment there where I think Larry twigged in his mind, oh, actually she exists as a person. She’s not just this female entity for me to fancy in the corner of the office and do all the errands. Actually, she’s her own person here.

And that was really carefully played throughout the whole of Series Eight. Because they developed that friendship where she suddenly saw him for his vulnerabilities and he saw her too, for hers. And I think that was so nice and so carefully pitched that it enabled them to go from being people that just work together to going, I think that these two could exist as friends outside of the office. I think once this office closes, they could go for a drink together. And yeah, at the end of Eight, she says,

 

CLIP

Miss Scott: I hate to say it, but he’s really rather attractive when he’s not being a twerp.

 

Bradley Hall: It’s annoying for her to sort of like him, and I think that’s really nice because it’s funny in life because sometimes the people that you start off not really liking, sometimes end up becoming really good friends. And I think that is what happened there with Larry and Miss Scott because they weren’t necessarily destined to have that sort of relationship. And it’s a lot of fun. It’s a lot of fun to play.

Jace Lacob: I do want to sort of dive a little deeper into your dynamic with Melissa. I should add that before you answer, when I asked her about you a few years back, she described you as, “not only a fantastic actor, but just one of the best human beings on this planet.”

Bradley Hall: Oh my goodness.

Jace Lacob: So if you want to top her appreciation of you, go for it.

Bradley Hall: Do you know what, it’s almost like we knew each other before we’d met. It was so sudden, our friendship, that it was a matter of days before we could just look at each other and we both knew what each other were thinking. And it’s so rare in life to get that. But I think our friendship and our relationship has developed now over five years and genuinely, she’s like a really, I can’t say older sister, can I? Because she’s going to not like that one bit. I’ll have to say younger sister.

She’s my younger sister, but she’s my wise younger sister. You know, the one that actually, I feel like I go to her for advice. And I do actually, I go to Melissa for advice about everything. I feel like we genuinely have brought a lot to the Larry and Miss Scott relationship and how that whole thing’s panned out. I felt really trusted to do that. And I wouldn’t have done, I don’t think, if it was a different actress. I really think that it is very much like how comfortable I am with Melissa. I mean, she’s such a good mate. She really is.

I went to her wedding last year when we were filming actually. It’s funny because we were actually working two days before her wedding. We were doing quite an important scene of Series 10 together. And then it was bizarre because two days later we were in the real world and I was there with my wife and she was there obviously with her new husband.

And we were just dancing on the dance floor at her wedding. And I just felt like, oh, I really like her. Do you know what I mean? She’s such a good mate. She really is. Like, I genuinely mean that, she is. And I know that she’s going to be my mate for the rest of my life. I know that I’m going to be texting her when I’m 80, being like, oh, this happened. And she’d be like, oh yeah, it happened for me too. I just know it. I just know it. A hundred percent.

Jace Lacob: I love that. That is so sweet.

 

MIDROLL

 

Jace Lacob: I want to turn our attention to a dynamic of a different sort, which is that between Larry and Leonard. They’ve had their differences including in Series Eight, this very angry confrontation at the halfway house.

 

CLIP

Leonard: Unless we’re under arrest, you have no grounds to keep us here.

Larry: Fine! Arrest them all!

Leonard: For what?

Larry: Arrest them, interview them.

Leonard: Don’t worry, don’t worry. For what?

Larry: Find out if they were at The Mirage last night.

Alfio: We played cards!

Leonard: We haven’t done anything.

Larry: You’re bound to do something eventually.

Leonard: So you’re admitting this is harassment, that it’s unjust, that you’re nothing but a common little thug.

Larry: Shut your mouth you pansy bastard before I shut it for you.

Geordie: Larry!

Leonard: No, tell me this isn’t harassment!

 

Jace Lacob: It’s really shocking coming from Larry.

Bradley Hall: Yeah.

Jace Lacob: How did you read Larry’s response and what’s motivating this violence here? Is it grief over his mum’s death?

Bradley Hall: Yeah, definitely. I’ve always from the start, when I’ve seen these sudden, kind of aggressive words come from Larry and it kind of jars a bit, and when I see those things and I think, oh my God, I’m going to have to say that to Leonard. Like the audience is going to hate that because Leonard is like the best, do you know what I mean? Al is so good and he’s so good in the role. He’s so good offscreen as well. I love Al.

But because I have to say those things, I’m thinking, oh no. Like, I can’t say that, that’s awful. But then I have to remember actually, do you know what? I have to find a reason for it. He has to be aggressive because there’s a murder here, so I have to sort this situation out. I have to get them out, it’s physical. And in Eight, he was struggling because of the death of his mum. He was obviously feeling very lost from the end of Seven. I suppose there was a lot of frustration there and Larry was constantly struggling with trying to find his own identity and his own, I suppose, competent-ness of being a detective because he’s failed so many times.

He feels like he sometimes has to puff up his chest and play the bravado to kind of be like, no, listen to me. I am a detective, even if I’m the worst detective you’ve ever seen, like, I am a detective. And I feel like sometimes I have to pitch it that way. I feel like I can’t go the whole hog and go, suddenly I’m just going to be this really racist, horrible, homophobic, fascist. I can’t do that because it’s just not true to who Larry is as a character.

But those slips and things that happen, I think they help because what they do is that he learns through those incidents and goes oh, I see how I’m being portrayed now by the rest of the world, and so therefore I must change. And I think without those things, he wouldn’t have been able to become the person he has become.

Jace Lacob: Larry and Jennifer begin Series 10 in the throes of their romance, one that they’re trying to keep under wraps.

 

CLIP

Miss Scott: Oh, sorry we were just, um…

Larry: The table was being a bit wobbly.

Miss Scott: Yes. Much better now, though. Thank you, detective.

Geordie: You stay where I can see you. Now please, take a seat at our newly fixed table.

Mavis: I don’t think they were fixing the table.

 

Jace Lacob: How do you describe that unique combination of humor and sexiness that these two have together?

Bradley Hall: It is funny because I never saw Larry as a sexual character. So the fact that they started 10 so boldly for them both, in the interview room, which is, I think it’s where we ended Nine, isn’t it? We ended Nine in the interview room kissing, and I feel like we pick up 10 it’s like a year later and they’re still kissing in the interview room. It’s funny for me because a whole year has passed and they’re still kissing. Once they’ve opened that, that’s it. They’re onto a new sort of trajectory together.

And it was fun because I felt like so much of what happens in the station is always quite serious, and it’s always quite somber, and it’s all quite high stakes. That was really nice because it gave us a chance to kind of bring comedy where we haven’t necessarily been able to show so much of that. And I feel like we’ve been given quite a lot of chances in Series 10 to show comedy. And I think it’s been really fun because it’s not necessarily something, if you look at earlier stuff, the two of us together in scenes, it’s quite good. It’s fast paced patter with each other and they’ve got quite a good banter, but it’s not flirty, it’s not alive with that sort of dynamic.

Whereas in 10 we’ve got this new dynamic and they are like this married couple that have been married for years and they still love each other and they fancy each other so much. And it’s brilliant that we’ve got this in the station, which we had never, ever seen. So yeah, when I read 10, I was like, that’s going to be a lot of fun to film. And it was, it was brilliant. It was hilarious. It was really, really good.

Jace Lacob: I mean, Larry has this sort of puppy dog desperation that’s so in keeping with his character, but by Episode Five things take a turn for the couple. He’s proposed, she’s turned him down again and he makes Miss Scott cry.

 

CLIP

Larry: The woman I love doesn’t want to marry me.

Miss Scott: I do want to marry you, I—

Larry: But you’re not going to?

Miss Scott: I would rather we didn’t do this at work.

Larry: We’re not doing any work as far as I can bloody see.

Miss Scott: Larry! Keep your voice down.

Larry: Sorry, little miss perfect with your perfect dresses, your perfect hair, and your face, just being all perfect. But on the inside, you know what you are? You’re mean, mean and cold, and you’ve got no bloody heart.

 

Jace Lacob: What provokes him here to speak to her that way?

Bradley Hall: Yeah, this is one of those moments where I read it and then I panic a bit because I go, oh, that’s a bit strong. Like, how do I pitch that? Because that feels like just reading off paper, you kind of go, that’s Larry of Season Five, early Season Six, Larry. How can I find what I need to find in that? And I think having the relationship I do with Melissa is great because I can say to her, what do you think Larry’s trying to say? And also, how do you think Miss Scott responds to that?

And because we can work through that scene together and we can work through that dynamic together, when we then go on to set and we speak to the director, we feel like we’ve understood it or we’ve broken it down on how we want to try and convey it. And it’s great because it means that you can then say quite harsh things, but you are doing it in a way that doesn’t necessarily impact your character or doesn’t destroy your character entirely.

And also, I’m not sure how quickly Miss Scott will be able to forgive him for this, because he’s saying really cutting things. And I said to her, maybe it’s Larry wearing his heart on his sleeve, which is what he does constantly. And he goes, I love you, you love me, so why aren’t we getting married? That’s the obvious thing to do, isn’t it? But Larry hasn’t obviously given it much thought. He’s not even thought about the details of what the knock on effect of any of that stuff is. He’s just thinking about, well, we love each other, so we get married. That’s what happens.

That’s just the world that Larry exists in. So even though he’s saying these things like you’re mean, you’re heartless, whatever, like all of those things that he says are horrible, I had to pitch it in the fact that it wasn’t that he genuinely felt that about Miss Scott. He’s going, in this particular moment, I feel like you are being those things because I don’t understand. Like, I just don’t understand.

And it pays off because I feel like it never, it never veers into him being so mean that she goes like, you are horrible. Why would I want to marry you? In fact, what it does, I think is she goes, I just need to explain it better to him because he doesn’t quite understand. And actually I do love him, but we have to work out how we can do this. We never then just lose the relationship. It’s never the end for them in that moment. It’s just a stepping stone that they have to get onto to then get onto the next stepping stone.

Jace Lacob: No, it provokes both of them, I think, to be vulnerable, to make themselves vulnerable. And she sort of bears her soul to him. And then his final proposal is just so gentle. He gets down on one knee and says,

 

CLIP

Larry: Miss Scott, my sweet Jenny, the love of my life, please, will you just marry me?

Miss Scott: I thought you’d never ask.

 

Jace Lacob: I assumed there would be a long engagement for these two, but basically as soon as Larry has proposed, it seems like they’ve secured an appointment at the registry office. There’s no reception, there are no wedding guests. There’s no fuss. It’s just all Miss Scott practicality. Fortunately, Larry works with a very talented detective who has put two and two together despite their efforts to conceal this. And Geordie shows up with Alphy and they whisk our lovers to Grantchester Church where they’re surrounded by Cath and Sylvia and Jack who helped them pull off an actual church wedding. What does the kindness of these people mean to Larry and Jennifer on their wedding day?

Bradley Hall: It was such a nice way of them writing that. And I’m so glad they did do it quite sudden, because when you feel like you’re going through something by yourself and no one really knows about it, when you are then supported so suddenly by various people all together, it does really feel like you have got a family there. And I think that was a moment for Larry and Miss Scott to kind of have a family, which neither of them have now because I mean, she does have a family, but she doesn’t speak to them. So it was just gonna be those two. That was it. Their whole vision was very much like, we’re going to do this thing and we’re going to get married. And that’s what they’re doing.

And it was exciting for him, but I think part of him also, you know, he wanted to have a wedding where there were going to be people there and that he could make a speech and that they could have a dance, and all of those things. I think he’s so proud that he’s managed to catch someone like Miss Scott that he’s kind of like, she’s my wife. He wants to show her off because he’s so proud that he’s got someone like her. And I think in that moment when… it is dreamlike in the sequence that happens, that they’re taken from the registry office and there’s very, very little dialogue in the scenes that unfold after.

You don’t need the big show around it because what exists in that very small moment in that church with just those six people that are there, it’s so Grantchester. I’m so, so happy that I can get to play one of those moments of Grantchester because in the series of Grantchester in all of the series and all of the episodes, I feel like that will go down as one of the scenes where it kind of sums up the energy and the tone of the piece and how the whole idea of Grantchester is, I think, it’s this community and love of a family that isn’t necessarily a family, and I think it sums it up so beautifully in that scene. It was brilliant. Really, really was.

Jace Lacob: It does, I mean, I really think that it does have this beautiful message about community and Larry and Jennifer think that they have to go it alone, that they have to turn their wedding into something like an errand, a dental appointment that they can fit in in the afternoon. But they end up having this beautiful wedding surrounded by people who care about them. And, I think you’re right. This sense of love of community is part and parcel of Grantchester. Yeah. I think this is the heart of the show in one scene.

Bradley Hall: Yeah.

Jace Lacob: And it’s your wedding scene.

Bradley Hall: Yeah. I’m so honored that we got to film that. And also because me and Melissa, we really rarely get to go to Cambridge when we film. Because we’re mainly in the police station. So for us to be able to go to Cambridge and to go to the actual church and that whole, you feel like I’m actually like in that world of Grantchester now because we’re often kept in a different, I feel like the police station is kept in like a different world of Grantchester.

Jace Lacob: Crime world.

Bradley Hall: Yeah, and I feel like it’s so nice that we could have that moment in that whole world and that me and Melissa got to go to Cambridge. It was brilliant because we actually got, I think we filmed on the Wednesday and the Friday, which meant we got the Thursday off and we just had a right laugh on the Thursday. I mean, we went to Fitzbilles, which is actually the cafe, and we got the buns, the Chelsea Buns. And we went for a punt. And it was just brilliant. It was like we were doing all of those things that I think Larry and Miss Scott would’ve done in that actual place. And it was just brilliant. We had a right laugh. It was gorgeous. It was a gorgeous day. It was just a gorgeous week of us being able to film that.

Jace Lacob: I do have to ask, you got your start as a child actor with your first onscreen role as Spider Boy, the younger version of Ralph Fiennes’s character in David Cronenberg’s 2002 psychological horror movie, Spider. What was it like working with David Cronenberg on your very first gig at such a young age?

Bradley Hall: It was never an intention of mine to be an actor. That wasn’t it. In fact, I did a lot of dancing. I was really into ballet and I was kind of doing really well in that sort of line, and it looked like maybe that’s where I was going to be going. And then my sister, who was more into the musical theater stuff, the acting and the dancing and stuff, she had an agent for commercial stuff and shows and things like that.

And they obviously saw this nationwide search that they did in the UK to find this young Ralph Fiennes. And I just happened to be there at this place where my sister was having some head shots taken and the agent said to me, do you act? And I was like on the spot yeah, sure. Like not really, but yeah, yeah, sure. Yeah, yeah I act. As you do. And then I find myself going up and going into this room and doing this scene and I just felt like, I don’t know, I feel like I’m meant to be here. This feels very much like I’m actually going to go and do this job.

And I think my parents were a bit surprised because it was so surprising, it wasn’t a thing, and then four weeks later they’re going, we are going to fly you to Canada now, and you are going to film for six weeks with David Cronenberg. For my parents, I think they were like, what? Like, that doesn’t make any sense. It was kind of strange, but what an introduction to that whole world. And from that moment I was like, this is what I’m going to do with my life because this is it. This is so good.

I was 10 and it’s bizarre because my son is 10 and I see him and I just go, oh my God. Like, that was me. Like, how has that happened? How has my life just gone like a blink? Like I feel like I was just there filming it. And it’s bizarre, you know, it really is bizarre how things in life pan out and how things fall into place. And I think Grantchester has been one of those things that it’s just fallen into place. And it was never an intention to sort of, I don’t think when they were writing Larry, I don’t think they were thinking that this guy’s going to be in it for seven series. I think at that time it was a couple of episodes and we were kind of seeing how it goes. But things in life just work out that way and I feel like, yeah, Grantchester is one of those things.

Jace Lacob: Love it. Bradley Hall, thank you so very much.

Bradley Hall: Thank you. Thank you, Jace. It’s been an absolute pleasure.

 

Next time, the mysteries continue for Alphy and Geordie.

 

CLIP

Geordie: This letter from your mum, it has writing on it.

Alphy: Well, letters normally do.

Geordie: No, there’s a word here. I can feel the impression. You must’ve noticed.

Alphy: I thought it was your day off? Wait, Geordie, don’t mark it.

Geordie: Well, will you look at that.

 

In two weeks, actor Rishi Nair and executive producer and writer Daisy Coulam join us once again to explore the culmination of storylines this season, unpack themes of belonging and parent/child relationships, and reflect on the emotional climax of this landmark season.