Viewers eagerly awaiting the debut of a new vicar on 's Grantchester were distracted on Wednesday (January 22) as a familiar face stole the limelight.

Fans recently waved goodbye to actor Tom Brittney after he quit his role as vicar Will Davenport on the popular crime series.

Tonight's episode introduced Reverend Alphy Kotteram, played by actor Rishi Nair, as the show's new lead. While fans eagerly tuned in to see how the new character would connect with detective Geordie and his investigations, sharp-eyed viewers were quick to spot a familiar face. Making a surprise appearance was none other than Emmerdale's Ned Porteous, best known to fans of the ITV soap as Joe Tate.

Ned was seen playing the role of Harvey, a worshipper at the church who believed his father had been murdered, despite a ruling by the coroner that it was suicide.

"That Joe from #emmerdale ?" asked one fan.

"Joe from #Emmerdale in tonights #Grantchester filmed I guess before he came back as Joe!," penned a second.

A third chimed in: "I recognise the actor playing Harvey in #Grantchester as he's also in #Emmerdale as Joe Tate!" and "Oh, look, it's @NedPorteous!"

Meanwhile, the new vicar also has a soap background, having once appeared in Hollyoaks as Sami Maalik on the Channel 4 soap, portraying the lawyer from 2017 to 2021 across 256 episodes. Sami entered on a dramatic note as he sought revenge on the Nightingale family and embarking on a number of interesting storylines.

The star's other projects outside of the soap include The Duchess and Netflix thriller Treason, before appearing in ITV's horror comedy Count Abdulla which follows the exploits of a British-Pakistani Muslim doctor who is bitten by a vampire.

The actor spoke of his first day on set before series 9 aired, as Rishi shared: "Obviously, Tom did the first two episodes, I was in episode 3 so I had to wait a couple of weeks.

"It was really cool, I kind of got on to set we took the scene and we just had a lot of fun with it and it was a great place to start actually because we were starting at the beginning, story wise, and so it set us up and gave us that foundation to build on this relationship between Alphy and Geordie and see how it progresses through the season."

Fans also shared their views on the star's debut episode.

"I love this new vicar already! Pleasant on the eye," gushed one fan.

Another penned: "Don't dislike Alphy at all, I just can't get over Will not being here. I will, eventually, I'm just still in denial that he's gone."