About the Character: Charismatic new vicar Alphy Kottaram joins the show in its ninth season, and he brings a breezy cool to Grantchester. He’s cheeky and appears remarkably confident, but we can see there are certain things that strike a nerve for him. Will the locals be able to accept Alphy as one of their own?

Where You’ve Seen Him Before: Nair is cast in a second MASTERPIECE Mystery! series, The Marlow Murder Club. He’s known for British TV roles including lawyer Sami Maalik in the soap opera Hollyoaks—a performance nominated twice by Inside Soap Awards—and a vampire in the horror sitcom, Count Abdulla. Nair has appeared in independent films including the 2022 comedy, Brian and Charles.

Fun Facts: Nair’s biggest diversion is football (soccer in the US) and coaching the sport was his side hustle during early days of acting. He still plays three times a week. In fact, it was an nonchalant conversation about football between Nair and co-star Robson Green during their “chemistry read” screen test that illuminated their connection.

Related Content: Discover Rishi Nair’s thoughts about joining the Grantchester family in this exclusive Q&A feature and/or on the MASTERPIECE Studio podcast. Then watch the video short about his character, Rev. Alphy Kottaram.