Alphy's Backstory Is Revealed at the Midpoint of 'Grantchester' Season 10

Every vicar in Grantchester comes with their own set of problems. The series' original Hot Priest, Sidney Chambers (James Norton), came with issues straight out of James Runcie's novels: a working-class WWII vet whose ascent to the priesthood elevated him out of his original class status, yet did not make him an appropriate match for his upper-class childhood sweetheart. Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) was upper-class, born and raised the heir to a title and estate that were no longer worth having, while those around him were cruel and abusive.

Since his introduction, Alphy Kotteram (Rishi Nair) has been a cipher, which was one of Lacy's major complaints when he arrived in Season 9. (One of the many reasons we flipped back to me recapping the series this season.) He was such an interesting idea, but the show didn't seem to want to capitalize; Alphy just seemed a nice bloke, born and raised in the U.K., who chose God as his calling, and easygoing enough that he didn't bother to argue when the entire town told him he was now partners with the local detective.

However, the moment this week's episode took him to the Bithah Foundling Home, where the head, Stuart Potts (Downton Abbey's Paul Copley), called him Alpheus and acted like he was the prodigal son returning from war, it was merely a matter of when Alphy would reveal himself as having been raised there, not if.