Grantchester Reviews

This is a show that ticks off so many positive boxes for me:
British crime drama, by Brits for a British audience, well-acted chemistry, one crime per episode with an overarching storyline, the unlikely pairing of the sacred and the secular (in this case, two damaged souls trying to make the world better from their own venues) and more.
It's also based in the 50s, when the Brits were still recovering from the ravages of WWII but showing the inklings of Britain with the Beatles, Carnaby Street and the free-wheeling 60s that made London the societal rival to New York City.
And this is where I take issue with shows like this: a 50s show that's written and produced in the 21st Century, with a 21st Century mindset.
And it all centers around the character of Leonard Finch, a/k/a "Gay Leonard." Leonard originally was the "naïve" (read "closeted") curate of the local Anglican parish. Over time, his homosexuality became a broader part of his character, including his hush-hush boyfriend. Mind you, I don't have a problem with the LGBTQ society but remember: this was 50's England and LGBTQ may well have been some secret British ministry, but not the acronym for a section of their society. That is, prior to 1967, homosexuality was illegal in Britain (it wasn't decriminalized in Scotland until 1980).
As a sworn officer of the law, Detective Inspector Geordie Keating should have been duty-bound to arrest Leonard and his boyfriend! And either Vicars Sidney Chambers or Will Davenport, as part of their Anglican duties, should have reported Leonard and had him drummed out of the C of E for his "sins." Now (spoiler alert!) Leonard, as the victim of another act of crime, is ultimately tried and found guilty of being gay. He did time in jail and was defrocked by the Anglican hierarchy. But, by the end of Series 7, he and his boyfriend were still an active couple. The wokeism of the 21st Century,...sigh!