Daisy Coulam, Reflecting on 11 Seasons of Grantchester
Released June 8, 2026 33:59
This interview with Grantchester head writer and executive producer, Daisy Coulam, was recorded two weeks after the 11th and final season of Grantchester finished filming. But rest assured: there are no spoilers for Season 11 ahead as Daisy takes a look back at what Grantchester has meant to her. This conversation was originally recorded on video. To watch this special MASTERPIECE Studio interview, head to YouTube.com/masterpiecepbs and click on Podcasts.
This script has been lightly edited for clarity.
Jace Lacob: The following interview was recorded in November, 2025, two weeks after the eleventh and final season of Grantchester finished shooting. But rest assured: there are no spoilers for Season 11 ahead as Daisy Coulam and I take a look back at what Grantchester has meant to her. This conversation was originally recorded on video. To watch this special MASTERPIECE Studio interview, head to YouTube.com/masterpiecepbs and click on Podcasts.
I’m Jace Lacob, and this is MASTERPIECE Studio.
Today, I’m sitting down with Grantchester lead writer and executive producer Daisy Coulam. Daisy has been on the podcast since Season 3 of Grantchester, and holds the title of most frequent guest on MASTERPIECE Studio. Daisy just wrapped filming the final season of Grantchester, Season 11, and we’re going to talk with her now about saying goodbye.
Jace Lacob: This week we are joined by Grantchester head writer and executive producer Daisy Coulam. Welcome.
Daisy Coulam: Hello. This is so weird with faces.
Jace Lacob: I know, isn't it? It's very strange. Very strange. But it's good to see you. The final series of Grantchester wrapped last week. “Lots of lovely people. Lots of lovely memories. I'll miss you guys” you wrote on Instagram. How are you feeling a week later about this project that you dedicated over a decade of your life to, finally coming to an end?
Daisy Coulam: I am still in denial, I would say. What's interesting is this series won't come onto television in England until 2027. So in a strange way, it doesn't feel like it's over. It feels like I've got a few years left. I sort of feel like it will always be a part of me really, actually. Oh God, you're going to make me cry. I know it. It's going to happen.
Jace Lacob: It's going to happen. It'll happen. Did I see the RTS invite go out? Was I a little jealous that I couldn't be there? I was, yeah. I would love to be there. Did you go up to the set for the final day of shooting?
Daisy Coulam: I did, and Emma did. The final scene was quite a few of the core cast together in quite a pivotal scene that I'm not going to spoil. But it was so heartwarming. I don't know, I can't… I don't think I'll ever get this kind of thing again. I don't think I'll ever get a job like this where actually people are genuinely fond of each other. People were crying and some people… I was quite stoic, I like to think. I'm not a massive crier, I say, having almost cried once already. But yeah, it was lovely. And it was like, I don't know. I don't know, it's really hard to explain. It is because it's been like a quarter of my life, really. Yeah.
Jace Lacob: What went through your head then in the very second after director Rob Evans said, “And that's a wrap on Grantchester”?
Daisy Coulam: When will I see these people again? Will I ever work again? And just, will it ever be this good again? Is this sort of the peak, really? I hope not. But it will always be a special job for me.
Jace Lacob: Was there a sense then of sadness or celebration or both on that final day?
Daisy Coulam: I think there was sadness, and then the next night was the party and that was celebration. It was proper disco, you know, like school disco kind of vibes with everyone on the dance floor and a huge cake. I don't know if you've seen the photo. I think it was somebody's mum who made a cake that's like a big Grantchester sign. Huge. And dancing and speeches. Emma did a speech, Robson did a speech. They both cried during those. That was the celebration and I came away from that feeling really jolly, actually. All the boys were there, all three vicars. Rumor has it, I didn't see it because I'm sensible now and left early, that they did the Spider-Man pointing at each other photo, all three of them.
Jace Lacob: Oh, my God, that's amazing, the Spider-Man meme brought to life by three vicars, amazing. While the final weeks of production were on the show's standing sets in north London, the final day of production on location in the village of Grantchester was back in September. You posted a picture on Instagram of you with Rishi Nair, Al Weaver and Emma Kingsman-Lloyd. What was it like saying goodbye to this beloved village?
Daisy Coulam: We were talking about this earlier, actually. I had a chat with one of the villagers and they said, “You're annoying, but we're going to miss you.” Which I thought kind of summed it up because we've sort of invaded their village for the last 11 years. It's not an easy ask of quite a small village of people to have a huge crew turn up and sort of almost, you know, you're not doubling their population, but you're getting there. But they were very kind to us.
Did you hear about the fireworks? Robson is obsessed with fireworks. If you ever speak to him about this, he did a fireworks display for the villagers. Got a van with… one of the crew’s sisters runs a burger van. So we had a burger van. And it felt again, like this very lucky position to be in, to be surrounded by a whole village of people kind of watching this beautiful display to… I don't know, I can't remember the music. There was the Grantchester theme, obviously. But it was all choreographed and it was great. It was really sweet.
Jace Lacob: That's amazing.
Daisy Coulam: Yeah.
Jace Lacob: Emma Kingsman-Lloyd has been by your side every step of the way on Grantchester. How would you describe your creative partnership with Emma and how integral was she to Grantchester as we know it?
Daisy Coulam: I think without Emma it wouldn't have lasted 11 series in all honesty. I think she is the firm guiding light, and she steered me many a time away from a bad story or a bad character decision. Her and Robson lead the way and we sort of follow on, really. And I think I will keep working with them Emma, I've got a few projects sort of bubbling on the back burner with her. She will be the person I return to again and again because we have a kind of shorthand now, and we know how each other work. And also, she's just brilliant. She's brilliant with stories, she's brilliant with cast. She's brilliant with all of it. She's an awesome dude, frankly.
Jace Lacob: I can't wait to see what you guys cook up. I mean, I think you guys are great partners in crime, really. As a writer, you went into every season of Grantchester with the notion that it could be the final series, and we've joked over the years about how every series finale feels like an ending. How did that constant wrap up/pick up pattern play out in the writing process?
Daisy Coulam: In a weird way, the good thing about this show is that… oh no, I'm talking about it like it's a present day thing. You can end it and then it's almost like you can reboot it every series and you can refresh it somehow. Like, Rishi coming in refreshed it. Tom, when he came in, that refreshed it. It's a show that sort of regenerates itself, really. It's funny what the costume designer said to me. Oh, I've got a great idea about a murder in a theater. And I was like, why don't we do a murder in a theater? That's such a great idea. And I think the crew were under the impression that maybe we will come back. Everyone just keeps coming up with ideas. It is one of those shows that can sort of endlessly generate things, I think, which we're very lucky.
Jace Lacob: Personally, I thought that Series Seven had a strong ending with Will and Bonnie's wedding and the birth of their baby, the tying up of that serial killer plot. But I am so glad that the show kept going. Did you feel like this episode in particular would have provided a particularly natural ending for the show?
Daisy Coulam: The one with Bonnie and Will's wedding? Yeah, I think we actually thought, oh sorry my light just went out. Yeah, at that point I think we really, really, genuinely thought it was over. Really, really genuinely. And I love that end of the series. There's a beautiful shot with Robson and Tom looking at the church, and we were all there behind the camera when it was filmed. And it felt like an ending. But I tried on the last script of Grantchester, I tried to write in the sense that although the series is ending, that world doesn't end. It's always still out there. And it's still happening. And that's sort of the way I'm coping with it, I think, is the idea that we're not there, but they are still going.
Jace Lacob: Sidney Chambers, Will Davenport, Alphy Kottaram. We've had three vicars and one detective, the dogged Geordie Keating throughout the 11 series run of Grantchester. Given that revolving door approach with the vicars, did it feel in some ways that the show could have gone forever in a sense that, you know, if Rishi wanted to leave, you could have brought in a fourth vicar. If Robson left that maybe Bradley could have stepped up. Did it feel like there was some configuration of the show that could function regardless of who was sort of there?
Daisy Coulam: I think we could have revolved vicars. I think Robson is the sort of stalwart that you need to sort of anchor it, I suppose. I mean, Rishi said, oh, you know, I do know the series. He was up for doing another series. Everyone was up for doing it. They were like, let's just do a Christmas special! I think everyone's just trying to keep it going. But I think Robson, you sort of need him in it, Geordie Keating. I mean, Bradley is fabulous as well as Larry. And there is a storyline that would suggest that maybe off screen he is running the show maybe. We also talked about spin offs. We talked about Larry and Miss Scott and CeCe’s and we've got all these ideas for huge spin off shows. Yeah, so there's just potential, I think. I think it's the actors, really. They bring something so beautiful to it that you just want to kind of keep playing with their stories, really.
Jace Lacob: On that note of Robson, the changing role of the vicar, as you say, has sort of always been balanced by Geordie as the mainstay detective. Looking back at 11 series, how important to the success of Grantchester was the casting of Robson Green?
Daisy Coulam: It was everything, really, I think. I'm sure you know the story that he wasn't cast in it until very, very close to the end. He was doing a different job. He got kind of planed in from Thailand with a very un-English tan and sort of dropped on to it. Didn't have any rehearsals. First time he met James Norton was on set. And I think without him, it wouldn't have worked. I think we wouldn't have got past Series One. I kind of honestly do think that's the case. I think he's the anchor. And just as a number one on the call sheet, he sets the tone, really. So everyone who comes onto the set has a great time because Robson insists on it I think. Even if you've got one line, he will make sure he comes and says hello to you.
Jace Lacob: I love that about him. The opening sequence of Episode One of Grantchester is that rope swing scene with Sidney and Amanda in Grantchester Meadow. And there's romance, there's danger, and there's an unexpected sort of innocence to it all. Looking back, how does this scene perfectly set up the show?
Daisy Coulam: What was interesting was that that scene wasn't in the script for a long time. We met Sidney as a vicar. And an exec producer called Jane Featherstone, who is amazing and does brilliant shows like Chernobyl, she read the script just sort of as a favor, really. And she said, I want to see him as a man before I see him as a vicar. I want to see him as a human being. And she was so right, because in a weird way, that sort of became the premise of the show, that he's a vicar, but he's also a flawed human being and falls in love and makes mistakes. And it set the tone for the whole show, I think. Otherwise, it might have been quite sort of tame or straightforward, whereas actually I think it made it more complex that we knew him as a man first and then a vicar.
Jace Lacob: I mean, Jane Featherstone, I take my hat off to you because that scene is incredible and it does set up the show so beautifully. Looking back at the first episode, our Grantchester mainstays Robson Green, Tessa Peake-Jones, Kacey Ainsworth are all there. Al doesn't come in until Episode Two. But what do these three represent in terms of the core of the show?
Daisy Coulam: I was thinking, the other day we did a little interview thing, and I was saying that they're just such quality actors who are dedicated. They didn't need to. They didn't need to dedicate themselves to the show. They didn't need to put their all into it, but they did. And also they happened to be really nice people. And I think that's what's kept us going, actually, is they are good people who care. And it's sort of fueled the show all the way through, actually. So we're very lucky.
Like Tessa Peake-Jones, in America, I don't know whether Only Fools and Horses was a big thing, I don't think it was a big thing particularly there, which is this comedy show that was so big in this country, she'd have to leave England at Christmas because it was like 30 million viewers would watch the Christmas special. You know, these are like seasoned, amazing actors, character actors, who've been around for years. And we were very lucky. I'm going to keep saying that because I think we were. We were lucky to get every… every part feels like a little spark of luck.
Jace Lacob: Oh that Rodney. What a plonker.
Daisy Coulam: Oh you do know it. There you go.
Jace Lacob: I know it. Episode Two introduces us to Al Weaver as curate Leonard Finch. And I always have to remind myself that Leonard and Al didn't come into the show until Episode Two. What do you remember of Al's audition and your first introduction to Al Weaver?
Daisy Coulam: One of the strange things about that was we'd been talking about casting quite early on, and I'd recommended him to play the role of Johnny Johnson, who was Sidney's sister's kind of fiance, because I really liked him as an actor. And then he came in and auditioned for Leonard, and it was like, when you see Al acting, he's such a different person. He embodies the character. You can see him become Leonard. It's this very kind of slightly awkward stiffness that just before the take, he'll sort of reform, his body reforms itself. And he was just perfect as Leonard.
And I remember he came in with his little mustache. Also, he'd broken his hand. I don't know whether you know this, that in those early scenes he was having to hide a broken hand. And he was young. We were all young then, I think. God, we're often like, do you remember how young we were back then? And he just made Leonard Finch, and I think he's one of the great successes of this show, really is him as an actor, him as a director, and as a friend. Oh, no. There we go. He is such a lovely man. He's a dude. He's a real dude.
Jace Lacob: One of my favorite dynamics within the narrative has always been that between Leonard and Mrs. C. And Al and Tessa knew each other prior to working on Grantchester, of course, but how much did these two surprise you as an on screen duo, one that was really replete with emotion?
Daisy Coulam: They're amazing. Did you know that she mentored him out of university? Yeah. So like she was his mentor, acting mentor. She said he didn't listen. He never listened to her. I think it's the warmth, their actual warmth for each other that comes out on screen. And it's sort of, they feed off each other, and then we as people on the other side of the screen, like me and Emma, are always like, what can we do with them? How can we push them? Yeah, it's like an energy link, isn't it? That's a terrible way of explaining it. But you feed off each other's energy and those two have the loveliest, kindest energy and they're just mates. And I think they will be forever really now. I think that's what this show has done, has created a lot of friendships and a lot of creative partnerships that will keep going.
We’re going to take a quick break for a word from our sponsors and when we return, more from Grantchester lead writer and executive producer, Daisy Coulam.
MIDROLL
Welcome back to MASTERPIECE Studio and our conversation with Daisy Coulam.
Jace Lacob: Our three vicars are each distinct in their desires, their flaws and their strengths. As their writer, what do Sydney, Will and Alphy represent to you as archetypes?
Daisy Coulam: They sort of represent their times, I think. Sydney was the shadow of war, that young man who's come back from war, who's been changed by it, who can never really escape that past. Which was the 1950s I suppose, was everyone trying to ignore the fact that there’s just been this terrible tragedy not many years before. Will is like the breath of fresh air, the kind of young, slightly heading into rock and roll, bit of a rebel, motorbike, but equally troubled. They were all troubled. Let's face it, they were all troubled. And then in comes Alphy, who is sort of the future of Britain, I think. He's kind of modern and he's kind of the most optimistic of any of our vicars, I think. The most fully formed, and yet he has his own traumas to face, I suppose. Yeah, that was the idea that by the end, we wanted a vicar who wasn't completely tortured on the surface, but then we realised halfway through, oh, God, he needs to be tortured as well. There needs to be some element of torture to this man.
Jace Lacob: It's Grantchester after all.
Daisy Coulam: Yeah, what is Grantchester without a tortured vicar?
Jace Lacob: There is a tradition in British television, more so than in American television, of being able to replace a lead and keep going. How did James' departure from Grantchester differ from Tom's? Was the former far scarier than the latter, or did you take heart that other shows like Spooks and elsewhere had successfully recruited new blood?
Daisy Coulam: It was very scary when James left because he was sort of the face of the show. Him and Robson were very much what drew people in. So when Will came in, we were scared. We were scared, but we knew we had somebody good in Tom and that he had the same sort of energy. And when that worked, when we decided to bring in Rishi, I think we were quite secure in the show. I think that in a way, the show was sure enough that it could take a new person to come in And I mean, again, luck, luck, luck. Third time lucky, Rishi really slotted into that space beautifully. And what I love is he slotted into that family, the kind of Grantchester family in real life as well. And he was apparently one of the last men standing at the wrap party. So yeah, I was already tucked up in bed by that point.
Jace Lacob: The handover became a bit of a tradition with James passing the baton or the dog collar, I guess, to Tom who passed it to Rishi. Was there a sense then that because the vicar role transitioned several times over, and you alluded to this earlier, that Robson had to be there as Geordie to provide some kind of stability or consistency within the narrative?
Daisy Coulam: I think so. And he's sort of in that archetypal way, I suppose, he is the elder statesman, isn't he? He's the grown up in the room. And I mean, I would have tried it with another policeman. People said to us, why don't you have a female policeman? You could bring in a female policeman, a police officer. And I think it could have worked, but for me, it was about that friendship. It was about Geordie and his vicar. That was what I was interested in, I think. And we're so lucky to have kept him right to the end. Because, you know, again, Robson could have gone off. He's got an amazing life and does his fishing shows and he's got other jobs going. He didn't need to stay. They were never optioned. I didn't realize this until today, actually, that Emma said they weren't obliged to stay. They just liked it so they did stay.
Jace Lacob: But we could have maybe gotten WPC Chapman out of this.
Daisy Coulam: Can you imagine? Yes.
Jace Lacob: Sylvia as a copper.
Daisy Coulam: Totally. Nick Brimble suggested the Chapman's Investigate.
Jace Lacob: I would watch that in a heartbeat.
Daisy Coulam: Yeah, totally.
Jace Lacob: So I want to zoom way out now. We're going to get into big picture things. So, my first question is, is there a favorite moment, scene or episode from 11 series of Grantchester, of which you are particularly proud?
Daisy Coulam: That's a very good question. And funnily enough, when we were at the wrap party, there was a sort of wrap reel, five minutes of Grantchester. There were some scenes I was like, I don't remember that scene. I think some of the stories I liked was the Gary Bell, the boy who… I really enjoyed that story. I think some of the stories, you know, Leonard going to prison, I was very proud of that. Separate episodes, I hold on to the Frasier-esque. That one sort of wrote itself because I'd just been waiting all my life to write a Frasier episode where vicars and strippers, trapped in the vicarage.
And I'm proud of the last episode, actually, I think because I was really scared of writing that last episode because I didn't know how to encapsulate everything that we'd been through. It's quite an ask. So I said to Emma and Dan, the producer, give me a really tight deadline, otherwise I'm just going to sit here and do the hoovering or something, or procrastinate wildly. So they gave me a tight deadline and actually that really focused me. And I think for that last episode, I really wanted everyone to have their moment to kind of shine. So that helped as well. So yeah, the last episode, I haven't seen it yet, so it might be a disaster, but in script terms, I really enjoyed it.
Jace Lacob: So you talked about giving everyone a moment within that final episode, but what sort of emotions did you experience while writing the final episode or episodes? How difficult was it to say goodbye to these characters on the page?
Daisy Coulam: It was really difficult. And I think one of the hardest moments for me was, I was really happy writing… Alphy does this speech with Geordie, not giving anything away, but that was easy to write. Geordie later on says quite an important thing to Alphy and I was like, I can't figure out how to articulate this. And then it sort of struck me that it's what James Runcie's father, the man who said, love the sinner, hate the sin. The Archbishop of Canterbury, that was always his feeling about it. And so I sort of drew on that really, which was also in the first book. And I got a lovely phone call, actually, from James Runcie, who was crying like on this answerphone message saying it really reminded me of my dad. And I thought that was lovely, that we'd somehow encapsulated what it was all about from the beginning, which was a sort of ode to his father.
Oh, my God, it's crazy, isn't it? Like, I don't know, somehow it's so beautiful that it keeps sort of circling back around, you know, like it's about his dad, but it's also about Diederick's dad. Did anyone tell you that before the wrap party, me and some of the cast went for dinner, and the first person we bumped into was Dominic Treadwell-Collins, who now works on Rivals for Disney and is amazing. But he and I storylined Grantchester on the Meadows. And I was like, oh my God, this is the guy who storylined Grantchester on the Meadows. This is our last day. We sit down for dinner, James Norton walks in completely unprepared. He was going to have dinner on his own before going to the theatre. We were like, James! And it was like these things kept happening where it felt like there's something sort of, I don't know, what's the word for that? Serendipitous, maybe?
Jace Lacob: Serendipitous. Yeah.
Daisy Coulam: Yeah, so we had dinner with James completely unplanned. We were like, what?
Jace Lacob: Spooky, spooky.
Daisy Coulam: It’s spooky, right? Yeah.
Jace Lacob: You mentioned the wrap party, and I saw some photos from the Grantchester wrap party and it featured so many happy faces. Original lead, James Norton, Tom Brittney, I mean, what was it like having everyone back together for the farewell party?
Daisy Coulam: Again, it felt like it was meant to be, really, that they were all there, and they were all so fond of the show. James didn't have to come. He's off being in The House of Guinness and he's doing films now, you know, he's a big star. He didn't have to come. And Tom was off filming with J.K. Simmons in Canada. They didn't have to come, but that makes me happy that they felt warm towards the show and warm towards the people. And it was nice just to see them on the dance floor. And what I love is that you've got the guys who drive the cars around and the people in accounts, and everyone kind of gets on and everyone just has a nice time. Yeah, it's not a hierarchy, really, which was nice to see on the dance floor.
Jace Lacob: You already have a Grantchester tattoo, a permanent memento. There it is.
Daisy Coulam: There it is,
Jace Lacob: Right there. It's a permanent memento of your time on this show, but did you end up taking anything from the set as a keepsake?
Daisy Coulam: I did. Shall I go and get it?
Jace Lacob: Get it, get it.
Daisy Coulam: I’ll have to run downstairs. Seamless, seamless thing. So I got, I don't remember this…
Jace Lacob: Oh, from Geordie's wall in his office!
Daisy Coulam: Yeah, Sydney gave it to Geordie. And then it sat in his office at one point when I think we thought the series was ending, he gave it to Larry, and it was sort of a handing on of the mantle, and then it sneakily went back in Geordie’s office again. But it's beautiful. It's like properly hand… somebody hand sewed this for us. So I was very pleased with that. I haven’t put it up yet but it will go up.
Jace Lacob: The needlepoint, I mean, that's if you're going to take anything, that's the thing to take. What do you hope is Grantchester's legacy then? What do you hope for viewers old and new, who are either revisiting or discovering this series for the first time, what do you hope that they take away from it?
Daisy Coulam: That they were entertained, but that they were also made to think maybe. And I don't know, I always think this show has a little bit of compassion, really. And it is about friendship and being kind to each other. And I think in this world we need kindness. It feels like kindness and compassion sort of slipped down the list of important things. I don't think it even takes to be religious to have those feelings, I just think it's human. And maybe we all need to internalize a little bit of the vicars and Geordie and just be kind I think, essentially.
Jace Lacob: Be kind. Words I think we can all live by. I guess the big question I want to ask at the very end of this is if we can look at Grantchester as a whole, at the decade plus that you spent working on this, what does the series ultimately mean to you, Daisy?
Daisy Coulam: I don't think it's an exaggeration to say it's changed my life. I've worked on some shows, and they're not so nice, maybe. And I think it's given me a sense of how I would like to work in the future. It's not just about the job or telly, it's about again, being kind to each other and supporting each other. And I suppose it's given me a moral compass. Oh my God, it's like the show has given me a moral compass! And it's given me friends for life, and I suppose I'm about two percent more confident than I was in Series One. So, you know, that's something.
Jace Lacob: Progress. It's progress. Grantchester is a happy place for the cast and crew and for really all of us who are watching it and have watched it for 11 series. And it's a happy place to escape to week after week. Looking back, what would you say you'll cherish as your happiest memory of working on Grantchester?
Daisy Coulam: So many things. Being in the village of Grantchester is obviously up there. Every time we go there, I feel like it's so special that they allow us to come in and sort of invade but we always have lovely things. Like, it was the fireworks this year and we've had rounders games and cricket matches with the villagers. There’s this sense of community there. Storylining the show fuelled by cakes and sweets. All of it, really. It's sort of been the shape of my life for a quarter of my life. And I'll be forever grateful, really, for that.
Jace Lacob: This is a big question, and it's maybe one that's hard to answer, but how do you let go after something like this?
Daisy Coulam: I'm not sure. I think it's the fact that it's carrying on until 2027, it won't be on telly in England until 2027 is a sort of gradual letting go. It's the same as the river and the swans are still swimming and it will kind of keep doing that in my heart, I think. That sounds a bit soppy, but I think it will always be a little bit of a part of me and the people that I've met along the way will always… it's special, really. I think I've had a special time on this show, yeah. Not going to make me cry.
Jace Lacob: I'm fighting back tears. This is a special show for me, and it's hard for me to let go of it. Like I said, I got to that last page of that final script and read those beautiful words and yeah, very happily cried. I'm not ready to say goodbye to Grantchester just yet.
Daisy Coulam: Let's not say it. Let’s just not say it.
Jace Lacob: Let's not say it. So instead I will just say, Daisy Coulam, thank you so very much and until next time. Thank you.
Daisy Coulam: Thank you.
Credits
MASTERPIECE Newsletter
Sign up to get the latest news on your favorite dramas and mysteries, as well as exclusive content, video, sweepstakes and more.
