John Simm teases dramatic rupture in Grace and Branson’s relationship: “Tensions are high”

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Throughout all five seasons of the ITV crime drama Grace, one thing has remained constant: the strong and reliable working relationship between Roy Grace, played by John Simm, and Glenn Branson, played by Richie Campbell.

Things are about to get complicated for the pair this season, with actor Matt Lucas hinting at a difficult scene coming up in season 6.

During a recent online discussion about the show’s upcoming season, actor Simm explained that his characters, Roy and Glenn, will have a disagreement. He found filming this scene unusual, as he and his co-star don’t typically portray conflict.

The characters feel so compelling because they’re flawed and relatable. They struggle and make errors, just like people do, and that’s what makes them so engaging – they feel genuinely real.

I just finished the first episode of Grace season 6, and it’s shaping up to be a compelling watch! This season is a bit different though – it’s four episodes long, and the second story, ‘Capture You Dead,’ is an original tale written specifically for the series, rather than an adaptation of one of Peter James’ novels. It’s exciting to see them branching out with a new mystery!

In this episode, Grace and Branson investigate a lead about Sandy’s murder, but their investigation is complicated when the body of a student named Charlie Downing is discovered. Grace now has to uncover who killed this young woman.

We’re really digging into what’s happening on campus now that everyone’s talking about Charlie. It’s becoming obvious someone is deliberately scaring students, and this university is definitely hiding things. We’re trying to figure out if those secrets have anything to do with what happened to Charlie.

I’m really rooting for Maddie Coleman, this student activist who’s determined to find out what really happened. She thinks Davey, Charlie’s ex who just got out of prison, might be connected to it all. But honestly, I’m worried about her – this fight for justice is taking a real toll on her.

A key piece of evidence reveals Charlie’s death is more complicated than it initially appeared, and Grace is now pursuing a ruthless killer desperate to hide a disturbing secret. However, when someone on Roy’s team gets too close to the truth, their life may be in danger.

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I was really interested to hear the producer, Kieran Murray-Smith, talk about how they’re approaching the stories. He explained they aren’t trying to simply retell the novels directly – he said they don’t want to ‘overtake the books,’ which I thought was a great way to put it. But they have kept some of the books in mind for potential future storylines, just in case they get the chance to explore those stories later on.

We’ve been developing stories led by our producers, and these have the full support of Peter James. We discuss everything with him, and he approves it all – I talk to him at least every couple of weeks. He’s particularly enthusiastic about the stories in our latest series.

Everything you see that isn’t directly from a Peter James novel will be based on his concepts or inspired by his work. It will always retain the core elements of his style and ideas.

The sixth season of Grace returns to ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday, April 5th at 8pm. You can watch all five previous seasons anytime now on ITVX.

Don’t forget to add Grace to your watchlist on the TopMob app! Download it now to get daily TV recommendations, exclusive features, and stay up-to-date on all things TV.

Authors

James HibbsDrama Writer

James Hibbs writes about TV dramas for TopMob, covering shows on streaming services and traditional channels. Before becoming a writer, he worked in public relations, first at a business-to-business agency and then at Fremantle, an international TV production company. He has a BA in English and Theatre Studies, as well as a Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.

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2026-03-30 13:06