“Grantchester” flings Nair into new old worlds

If your mom is a driving instructor and your dad is a driver, there’s a good chance your career will put you in a car.
It worked that way for Rishi Nair (shown here, right), but in a round-about way. As the star of “Grantchester” (9 p.m. Sundays on PBS), he gets to drive a zippy red Triumph convertible.
“I really like it,” he said. “I love the sound of it when I hit the accelerator.”
That vintage car is a part of his introduction to different worlds. Nair is a city guy from London, playing someone at the core of village life. He’s a Hindu, playing a Christian vicar. He’s someone who was born in 1991, stepping back into life in 1961.
In short, he gets to do a lot of acting, which was his goal.
“I think I always wanted to be an actor,” he said, via Zoom. But “I never saw anyone who looked like me, in lead roles.”
Now a few actors with South Asian roots star in British mysteries that reach the U.S. The shows include “Unforgotten,” “Art Detectives,” “Mrs. Sidhu Investigates” and, especially, the eternal “Grantchester.”
“It’s a cozy show,” Nair said, and is savored in England during long winters. In the U.S., it’s the centerpiece of the Sunday dramas, opening its season June 15 and continuing through Aug. 3.
This is the 10th season for “Grantchester” — and the third vicar, each working with Geordie (Robson Green, shown here, left) to solve mysteries. Nair’s character, Alphy, arrived last season. “It’s got a big following in the UK, … but it was never a show that I watched,” he said.
He’d been kind of busy. Setting aside his acting dreams, Nair actually got a law degree. Then he set it aside to try acting.
His parents were supportive, he said, even when his prospects seemed bleak. “It’s a real struggle.”
Nair did the young-actor circuit — theater, indie films, small TV guest roles. The break came in 2017, when he was cast (appropriately) as a lawyer in the British soap “Hollyoaks.” He stayed for four seasons, then went on to other things, peaking with “Grantchester.”
The first step was to absorb an era 30 years before he was born. Nair immersed himself in the music, becoming a fan of Nina Simone, Etta James and other soul and blues greats.
He’s also learned of the restrictions of the era. Homosexuality for men was a crime until 1967, making life perilous on the show for Leonard (the church’s former curate) and his lover, Daniel.
For women, there were other issues. Nair was startled by an upcoming episode in which Geordie’s wife tries to get a loan; the banker said she needs her husband’s permission.
“I couldn’t believe that,” he said. “I had no idea that was even a thing.”
There are other serious moments this season. We learn about Alphy’s troubled childhood; we see him face up to his non-committal approach to romance.
Despite all of that (and the murders), the show maintains its cozy warmth. Helping is the fact that it’s partly filmed in the real Grantchester. “It’s a very quaint English village,” Nair said.
It’s near Cambridge and is the home of some Nobel Prize-winners. But it’s also a quiet place — 600 people, three pubs, no stores and a splendid church, which partly goes back to the 13th century.
When filming inside the church, Nair said, he never exits between takes. “I just kind of sit and absorb it. The light comes through the stained-glass windows.”
At those moments, he can sink into the unique role of a village vicar. “He’s a coach, a friend, a family member.”
Alphy knows everyone. Nair strolls the village and goes into the countryside in his red Triumph, a driving instructor’s son in his element.