Grantchester fans devastated as they bid an emotional farewell to THIS favourite character

robson green, james norton
(Image credit: Photo by Nick Briggs)

The vicar will be greatly missed…

Grantchester viewers had an emotional Friday night after waving goodbye to their favourite vicar.

Sadly for fans of the ITV drama, James Norton – who portrayed Sidney Chambers, an Anglican vicar and ex-Scots Guard officer in the Second World War – made his final appearance in the show, having starred in the role since the series began in 2014.

But despite leaving for pastures new with his American love Violet, Grantchester fans were heartbroken over his departure.

Taking to social media, one emotional viewer wrote: ‘#Grantchester OMG tell me I'm not the only crying my eyes out here? Sidney's leaving. He's going to be happy with Violet then why am I so sad? Going to miss you Sidney! Good luck & Farewell @jginorton’.

Tom Brittney as Will with Robson Green as Geordie and James Norton as Sidney

Another said: ‘#Grantchester will miss you Sidney @jginorton. Somewhat emotional!’

A third added: ‘Perfect and romantic ending for Sidney #grantchester but you will be missed, lovely vicar! @jginorton’.

And a fourth said: ‘I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Sidney so soon #Grantchester’.

James even shared a public goodbye with his much-loved character, admitting it was a 'privilege' to play him.

A photo posted by on

James previously revealed his decision to leave the show so was he didn’t become ‘complacent’.

‘With acting, you can't become complacent. You've got to keep moving forward. For me, the priority is always to find a role which is new and unfamiliar and challenging, so that was the problem with staying on Grantchester,’ he told Digital Spy.

‘It was a world I had come to know, and inevitably you begin to learn less, so whilst it was the happiest time I've ever had on any set, I realised that it was probably going to lead to being less challenged [going forward].’

 

Jenni McKnight

Jenni McKnight is a beauty, lifestyle and entertainment journalist, currently US Lifestyle Editor for HELLO! Online. She has also written for HELLO! Magazine, GoodTo, CelebsNow, Daily Mirror and Yahoo!  Her first big break came when she interned on the Guilty Pleasures showbiz desk at Metro newspaper. She has since worked on the online lifestyle team at Woman & Home and Woman and was Senior Content Editor at CelebsNow.