Not "Everyone Loves Chloe" in 'The Chelsea Detective' Holiday Special

A Christmas special* for Acorn TV’s The Chelsea Detective? Well, why not? DI Max Arnold (Adrian Scarborough), the genial, sharp-witted detective of the title — short, ginger, dyslexic — is an appealing figure. He’s so law-abiding he makes hand signals from his bike even when no other traffic is visible. Max loves coffee and music, and his ex-wife, Astrid Fischer (Anamaria Marinca), if only they could stop bickering; right now, Max lives apart from her, on a houseboat on the River Thames in the picturesque and wealthy area of Chelsea, in West London, a matter of budget and preference. He is an astute and clever detective; however, it’s coming on Christmas, and Max is aboard his boat on a video call with Astrid. She is plotting something, reminding him of an important meeting they must both attend, and he’s distracted by a funny, i.e., painful tooth he’s too busy to deal with.

(*This is actually the first episode of Season 3, which will continue in early 2025.)

Former pop star and darling of the tabloids singer Chloe Carmichael had a big hit — her last before her career went downhill — some years ago with a single, “Nobody Wants To Be Alone At Christmas.” She lives in an apartment in a Chelsea mansion flat, but her career faded away following addiction issues and scandal. Her downstairs neighbor, Virat Sharma (Nitin Ganatra), is busy restoring some antique porcelain and is annoyed by the insistent pop beat from upstairs. Then some water drips onto the table, shorting the lights, and he goes upstairs to see what is causing it. He searches the darkened apartment and finds Chloe dead in the bathtub.