*Warning – contains spoilers for Grantchester season 11, which is yet to air in the UK.*

Grantchester writer Daisy Coulam has revealed that Robson Green’s DI Geordie Keating was almost killed off in the 11th and final season of the beloved ITV crime drama.

Keating was shot and left fighting for his life in the instalment, which is set to air in the UK next year after premiering on Masterpiece in the US earlier this year – but ultimately survived.

However, he almost met a very different fate, Coulam has revealed in an interview with The Mirror.

She explained: “I mean the amount of times we tried to be like, ‘He should die. He should definitely die’. I mean he died probably about four times in the story meeting and we just couldn’t do it. It would just be too big.”

She continued: “You’re like ‘No, because you need that moment at the end’. You need hope and you need joy because it’s a (platonic) love story and you need your two lovers alive at the end, I think.”

Grantchester was confirmed to be ending with season 11 back in July 2025.

Tom Brittney, who played Reverend Alphy Kotteram’s (Rishi Nair) predecessor, Will Davenport, previously spoke with Radio Times about his reaction to the show coming to an end.

“Oh, I was both heartbroken, in the sense of like, it was one of the longest running shows I think that ITV had had in that way,” he said.

“And so I was very proud of the creators. Because I know after James Norton left, they were like, ‘We’ll try and get a new guy, it’ll probably fail, but we’ll try it,’ and so there’s no pressure on me to try and keep it going. And then luckily, it did, and I did six or seven wonderful series of that, and I loved it. It will always be a special place in my heart.”

Season 11 sees Kotteram doing a lot of thinking about his future as he learns more about his own past.

Meanwhile, the Chief Superintendent comes to Keating with “a beguiling offer”, which could be a chance for him to finally be in charge, but could also spell the end of his crime solving partnership with Alphy.

Grantchester seasons 1-10 are available to stream on ITVX in the UK.

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