Grantchester’s Alphy left shaken after unsettling incident

He was then ignored by a group of locals during his first excursion to the pub, while Leonard and Mr and Mrs Chapman were the only people who accepted his invitation for an informal introduction at the vicarage.

But Alphy refused to be cowed, even though many in the village were hoping for such a response, and eventually he managed to settle somewhat into his new surroundings.

Yet, his troubles were far from over.

In tonight's episode (29th January), he was woken in the middle of the night by Dickens the Labrador, who was clearly agitated by something.

At first, Alphy tried to reassure him that everything was okay, but he quickly realised that his dog was right to be concerned because someone was trying to gain entry to his home.

As soon as the vicar understood what was happening, he rushed downstairs and opened the door, but the perpetrator had disappeared into the night without a trace.

Read more:

• Grantchester is cast in an unsettling light with the arrival of new vicar Alphy Kottaram
• Will and Geordie's Grantchester goodbye is a love letter to male friendship

That incident arrives off the back of Alphy receiving two anonymous letters containing religious scripture, which Leonard did his best to downplay.

But clearly, someone is trying to unsettle him – unless of course there is a more innocent and unexpected explanation...

Who is responsible? And what will they try next?

And Alphy wasn't the only one with a lot on his plate...

Geordie had taken to avoiding going home as Cathy and Esme continued to clash over the teenager's desire for more space and freedom.

But things really escalated during one particularly fiery confrontation, which ended abruptly when Cathy told her daughter that she hated her, before Esme then moved out of the family home without so much as a goodbye from her mum.

"Geordie doesn't understand why Cathy's behaving the way she is," Robson Green said ahead of season 9. "She doesn't smile anymore. [He thinks], 'I've lost her and I don't understand it.'

"But who does he turn to? It's Mrs C. We've got this lovely scene in the pub where I'm just trying to articulate what the problem is because I don't understand what's happening to Cathy. But as soon as I start saying certain things, it triggers something that Mrs C completely understands.

"She knows exactly what I'm talking about, even though Geordie doesn’t."

Grantchester airs on Wednesdays on ITV1 and ITVX.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.