Grantchester Series 7 | Interview with Kacey Ainsworth (Cathy Keating)

Where do we find Cathy at the beginning of series seven?

At the beginning of the series Cathy has thrown Geordie out, this time for good and they’re trying to coparent and negotiate the logistics of it all with pick ups and drop offs, the whole diary mess which doesn’t fit well with Geordie’s job. He’s a bit all over the place and he is realising how hard it is to try and combine work and childcare.

Cathy does become increasingly frustrated with Geordie’s attempts at juggling his two responsibilities which sees him taking the children to work and him being a murder detective, that isn’t ideal!

As Cathy and Geordie are separated, is it quite sad to do these scenes?

Yes it was and we don’t know what’s going to happen, as actors we aren’t given any clue if it’s going to be rectified or not. For Robson and I, we felt it followed a good pattern because we understood where it all came from. We saw their blow-up at the end of series six and found out a lot more about Geordie as a person and it works really well to find Cathy and Geordie in this situation as a result of that. Cathy is adamant that it’s not going to be the ‘same old, same old’ with her and Geordie and I can’t even imagine finding yourself in that situation in the 1950s but Cathy shows such bravery in turning round and saying, ‘I don’t have to put up with this anymore’.

Cathy has never been one for worrying about what anyone else thinks which is in contrast with Mrs C, who is permanently worried about how she comes across and has this very tricky moral line that she is always trying to pedal but finds it increasingly difficult. Cathy has never had that, she’s the one to say to Mrs C , ‘Don’t worry about that, forget about that person’s opinion, do what you want to do’.

I think Cathy’s career has enabled her to find that strength within herself as well.

There’s a lot going on at Swinnertons in this series and Cathy is at the forefront of it all, can you tell us a bit about that?

Cathy does like to bang a drum for a cause but because she is fighting on lots of fronts, she feels like she has to speak up for those who aren’t in the same position she is. She does like to stir the pot and she wants to make sure everyone is being treated well at work. She’s a proper socialist and wants there to be equality in the workplace and for people to work together harmoniously, and if that isn’t the case then the consequences will be that they’ll walk out or go on strike, which we see occur in this series.

When she sets up the union with Ms Scott, Cathy recognises the fight that she has to go through working at the Police Station, they are both striving for equality which is the same thing that women are still fighting for now! That’s what Grantchester manages to do so well, it shines a light onto issues that happened then and still occur today and will resonate with the audience.

Do you ever look back at Cathy’s storylines and think how much her life’s changed/how far she’s come from the first series?

I do and I think it’s lovely to see. We don’t often see working class women in the 50s who have solid background storylines, they’re usually just seen in a domestic setting so it’s great that Cathy has developed so much as a character.

It’s a situation that’s still very prevalent today, modern women who have children and dedicate that portion of their life to being homemakers and it can often make them feel like they’ve lost their way amongst it all. The prospect of re-entering the world after that time, of performing the difficult role of mother and homemaker, it’s quite daunting and it’s amazing how much things change and how you can feel quite lost as to what move to make next.

It’s easy to forget the skills that you have and that’s why Cathy is quite strong, she’s had to do a lot of parenting on her own and a product of that is that her organisational skills are really good and she’s transferred that over to her career as well as when she advocates for her children that now mirrors how she nurtures those younger members of the team at Swinnertons. She doesn’t want to see them taken advantage of, she looks at herself and these women and recognises that they need their financial independence and understands the struggles that go along with that. I think we really see Cathy evolve from when she’s had to deal with a creep at work in earlier series and thinks it’s something she’s done wrong or something to do with her to her reaction to calling out Clive two years on shows how her character has developed.

What are the themes that are explored in this series?

I know that the writers have their own story arc but I think there’s a lot to do with what makes a family and who makes a family – it doesn’t have to mean being related by blood, sometimes it’s about friendship and bonds.

We see it in Mrs C and Leonard’s relationship. Mrs C is going through a really challenging time. She sees it as a failure on her part and is almost ashamed of it but he helps her get through it.

Bonnie, played by Charlotte Ritchie, joins this season as Cathy’s niece. What was it like having her in the cast?

It’s great to extend your family! I’ve seen Charlotte on loads of programmes so we were all really excited to get this amazing actress coming in and becoming part of the Grantchester troup as it were! We do all genuinely get on really well and it’s lovely, similarly as when Melissa Johns joined as Ms Scott and Bradley Hall joined as Larry, it’s lovely to expand the family base.

For Cathy it’s lovely to have her niece helping out and having someone else to bat things around with. Bonnie is a massive support to Cathy to come and help with the kids and her and Cathy lean on each other because Bonnie has been widowed and she has a little boy and they’ve found a way to make the situation work for both of them.

I would never want to direct! I do enjoy writing and it is something I do now and enjoy doing but at the moment because I work as an actress all the time it’s actually quite difficult to get space in your schedule. You’d just have to make the time and make it happen.

I’ve worked on continuing drama for such a long time and it’s enabled me to understand how dialogue is written and as you’re playing it you get a feel for what works and what doesn’t the more you do it. I think I can recognise what constitutes really good dialogue and what is great and when it needs to be edited and I understand the medium, it’s an understanding of what can be done visually or what you can do with just an image of something, how you can tell the story without words. We forget how much we absorb and pick up that doesn’t need to be explained and knowing that the audience will catch you out if you haven’t thought something through properly.