Acorn TV Greenlights 'Ellis' with Sharon D. Clarke
Sharon D. Clarke as Grace in Doctor Who Season 12
Ben Blackall/BBC Studios/BBC America
The Television Critics Association press Tour didn't have much from Acorn TV or AMC+ regarding British programming. The only panel that featured British talent was the series Monsieur Spade, the finale of which was days away. However, the press releases were full of announcements, some of which fans already knew, like the returns of Harry Wild and Whitstable Pearl for Season 3. Some were unsurprising announcements, like My Life Is Murder returning for Season 4, Under the Vines for Season 3, and Recipes for Love & Murder for Season 2. However, the announcement of a new show, Ellis, was unexpected.
Ellis is a new mystery series that will air as feature-length installments, with the first season running three episodes. The show is named for its main protagonist, Detective Chief Inspector Ellis, played by three-time Olivier Award winner Sharon D. Clarke. Clarke is well known in the U.K. for starring in the long-running soap Holby City and more recent turns in the first season of Showtrial and the film Rocketman, as well as the forthcoming Lost Boys & Fairies. But most Americans will recognize her as Grace O'Brien from Doctor Who, wife of Graham and Nan to Ryan, whose passing inspires them to leave with the 13th Doctor in Season 11.
The series is being filmed as a co-production with the U.K. network Channel 5, which fans probably know best as the network that produces the reboot of All Creatures Great & Small. Ellis is expected to air on Channel 5 and Acorn TV in 2024, though it's not clear which will get to run it first.
Sharon D. Clarke as Grace O'Brien in Doctor Who Season 11
BBC America
Here's the series synopsis:
The series follows DCI Ellis, a tenacious cop who is parachuted into failing investigations. Each two-hour episode sees Ellis – accompanied by her right-hand man DS Harper – arrive at a different police station, where she will have to win over the local detectives and immerse herself in the cases she has come to solve. As a black female cop, Ellis is used to being dismissed and overlooked, but she is a first-class murder detective, with a determination for justice and a deep well of compassion for those who need it.
Clarke stars alongside Andrew Gower (Miss Scarlet & The Duke) as her sidekick, DS Harper. The rest of the cast will be announced in due course.
The series scripts were written by Paul Logue and Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre, with Chris Martin producing. Directors will be announced when filming begins. Ellis is executive produced by Catherine Mackin, Bea Tammer, Michele Buck, and Lucy Raffety, with All3Media’s Company Pictures in association with Northern Ireland Screen.
Ellis is set to begin filming this spring in Northern Ireland and will air on Acorn TV and Channel 5 later this year.
