ITV Grace's future confirmed as series comes to a dramatic end

ITV Grace viewers have been left making a desperate plea as the sixth season drew to a close.

The much-loved crime drama's latest run concluded with its fourth and final episode on Sunday evening.

Having cracked his latest case, DS Roy Grace (John Simm) was gearing up for his happy ending as his wedding day with Cleo (Zoe Tapper) approached, only to be handed footage recovered from a Munich hospital on the day his wife Sandy had passed away.

Within it, a man prowling the hospital corridors was identified as gang leader Albazi, who had been making life hell for Roy's son and DI Glenn Branson (Richie Campbell) for digging too close to the truth.

Despite initially believing Albazi had been apprehended, allowing Roy and Cleo to celebrate and exchange vows, the pair soon discovered that one of Albazi's henchmen had slipped into the UK, secured a position in catering, and was covertly working at his Brighton wedding, reports the Mirror.

Branson and Grace sprang into action, but upon learning that Cleo had been kidnapped after fighting off the criminal to protect Bruno, his entire world was turned on its head.

The episode concluded with a helpless Grace demanding of Albazi over the phone, after watching his new wife gagged and screaming in her wedding dress, "What do you want?" — a clear set-up for a seventh series.

Following the broadcast, ITV shared behind-the-scenes photographs from the shoot on social media, prompting fans to clamour for more. The broadcaster captioned the post: "John Simm and Richie Campbell caught in action for an unmissable final #BTS look at the brand new series of Grace!

"Grace and Branson have tackled their most intense and gripping cases yet on the streets of Brighton, but it's high-stakes drama on screen, all laughs off-camera!"

One devoted viewer commented: "I'm sorry that tonight is the last of this series we have loved it my hubster reads the books and he feels that all the characters are brilliantly portrayed - can't wait for next series already."

Another wrote: "Oh no not the last episode I hope there is more series to come,I really love the drama," while a fellow enthusiast chimed in: "Brilliant finale. Edge of the seat stuff! Bring on season 7."

A further fan pleaded: "Watched the final this morning. Wow what a cliffhanger ending..... I need more Grace. This has been my Sunday fix for the past month. Roll on season 7."

Yet another viewer enthused: "This is such a good series, just absolutely brilliant, can't wait for the final installment. Can't wait for more series to come," as another implored: "Hurry up with season 7 please."

While ITV is yet to officially confirm whether a seventh series will go ahead following the dramatic cliffhanger, lead actor John Simm appeared to settle the matter himself by responding directly to a fan in the comments section.

As one person questioned, 'Hi John will there be a series 7,' he tagged them and simply replied: "Yes."

John had previously also told ITV: "I will happily do this as long as people want it. I realise how lucky I am to be playing the lead in a cop show. I love it."

He continued: "I love the job. I love the people, and it's unlike anything I've ever done, in so much as it's genuinely like a family. We have the same crew, the same people come back to make the show every year, and every time we start again and walk on set, it feels like coming home."

John added: "So, yeah, I'm absolutely thrilled to be doing more."

Branson star Richie echoed: "To be on series six is fantastic. I don't think we thought [it would go this far]. We know that there's the books, and we know that, but it's the appetite - it's the fact that people really want to be a part of the show, where they've grown with the show.

"The beautiful thing for us is that each season, we're constantly thinking about upping it. It doesn't feel like we're just being like, you know, 'Let's just churn stuff out.' It's like, 'What can we do next?' Like this season, people must get bored of us saying it, but every season, I'm like, 'This season's the best. No, this season's the best'. And that's testament to everyone who works on it."

Richie concluded: "As long as people still love it, I'm just like John, I want to, kind of, do it forever."

Grace is available to watch on ITVX.