Grantchester viewers sad to see James Norton's Sidney go - but they loved watching him leave

Grantchester fans were left with a bittersweet feeling as James Norton's hunky crime-solving vicar Sidney Chambers departed the show during Friday night's episode.

*Spoilers for Grantchester series 4 episode 2 to follow*

We've known for some time now that Norton's ascendant career would take him away from the ITV drama at the early stages of this season - with Tom Brittney set to take over in a new role - but some of us were not quite ready to say goodbye. However, the majority of fans on Twitter are delighted with how his departure was handled, as a whirlwind romance with an American girl called Violet, depicted over the course of episodes 1 and 2 of season 4, led him to leave the Cambridgeshire town for the USA.

• Grantchester series 4 confirmed: but it's set to be James Norton's last
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The final scenes of the episode saw the Sidney putting his affairs in order as he prepared to cross the Atlantic to join up with Violet and her family. This included a teary-eyed final game of draughts between Sidney and Detective Inspector Geordie Keating (Robson Green) at their favourite table in the pub.

Norton took to Instagram after it had aired to share an emotional tribute to his character. Check it out below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsytkW-lcse/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=ucd3m2hxyskf

And, despite some minor gripes that Norton's departure had arrived too quickly, many of the fans who took to Twitter to post about the episode were happy with Sidney's "romantic" ending - and they all seemed to agree that Violet was a better fit for him than Amanda (Morven Christie).

"Yes yes yes, Sidney!" user @ravenwolf68 said. "Violet made you a better man in a way Amanda never could. Goodbye, James Norton, and thank you for the last 3 seasons. See you elsewhere on our screens. But before that, one last game."

@LMissinblue added: "perfect and romantic ending for Sidney. But you will be missed, lovely vicar!"

Check out some more reactions to the episode below.

https://twitter.com/ravenwolf68/status/1086382639374913537

https://twitter.com/LMissinblue/status/1086386859012489216

https://twitter.com/Goldie090/status/1086383614084886529

https://twitter.com/SueSusannah19/status/1086384279322533893

https://twitter.com/GRravski/status/1086398128004177920

https://twitter.com/richardcookson/status/1086400375018737666

https://twitter.com/Andrewclink7/status/1086565765447405569

https://twitter.com/MillieSansoye/status/1086416972269670400

https://twitter.com/NathRNath/status/1086382576791638016

However, the real test will be next week, when Brittney's William Davenport takes the reins for the first time...