Robson Green has said he would want “some kind of revenge” if someone he knew and loved was the victim of a crime.
The Northumberland-born actor co-stars in ITV drama Grantchester as Detective Inspector Geordie Keating, alongside Happy Valley’s James Norton as vicar Sidney Chambers.
Set in the 1950s, it centres around an unlikely partnership between the no-nonsense copper and the clergyman’s more intuitive techniques of obtaining information from witnesses and suspects.
Robson Green and James Norton in Grantchester (ITV)
The forthcoming second series will tackle the death penalty when a murder suspect faces paying the ultimate price.
MPs voted for the permanent abolition of the penalty for murder in 1969.
“Sidney and Geordie are poles apart on capital punishment: Sidney is against the death penalty, Geordie sees it as justice,” Robson told The Radio Times. “The whole beauty of Grantchester is that the politics are implicit in the characters.”
James Norton and Robson Green (ITV)
The storyline revolving around this issue creates a convincing conflict between the two men, testing their friendship in ways neither imagined.
Robson shared his personal view on the subject of capital punishment. “I know that if someone I loved and cared about was hurt, I’d want some kind of revenge,” he said.
“But I guess that’s where the justice system comes in, to stop us acting on our basic impulses.”
Adapted from the novel Sidney Chambers And The Shadow Of Death by James Runcie, Grantchester’s first series was a success for ITV in 2014.
The series average consolidated at 6.6 million viewers, which is a strong debut in these days of video streaming services and multi channel TV.
On screen, Chambers and Keating have forged a friendship in spite of their differing approaches and beliefs.
Robson Green (Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)
Series one established the premise and the characters, but now the second has the freedom to further develop the duo and take them to places the audience may not expect.
In some respects, Robson appears to be as down to earth as the detective he plays. “I’m not a method actor,” he admitted.
“And if I find myself surrounded by actors who take their work home with them, I’ve got a sign I put out – I got myself one of those triangular ones like a roadworks sign – which says Danger: Actors at Work.”
The themes in the ITV series are universal, which may explain its popularity with viewers.
“Grantchester is my happy place,” he said. “If it wasn’t for the body count, I’d move there tomorrow.”
Grantchester is broadcast on ITV at 9pm on March 2
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