Sharon D Clarke Looks Tired in 'Ellis's First Trailer

Acorn TV first revealed it was boarding Channel 5 police drama Ellis at the Television Critics Press Tour for Winter 2024. The series stars Sharon D Clarke (best known to Americans either as the President in Red, White & Royal Blue or as the late Grace O'Brien, a character introduced during Jodie Whittaker's debut in Doctor Who) as the titular DCI Ellis, a good cop who finds herself on the road, traveling from precinct to precinct, where overworked and understaffed U.K. police teams have become bogged down in high profile investigations and need an outsider to come in and take it off their hands. 

The series description and the first images from the series suggest it resembles a mashup of Line of Duty and D.I. Ray (that's a compliment). Line of Duty would send a team into a different precinct every season to find out why investigations were not going as they were supposed to, with a writ to find the bad apple undermining police efforts. Ellis' pacing is slightly different — each feature-length episode will move from precinct to precinct instead of each season, and investigations won't always fail due to someone undermining things — but the setup and rotating guest cast remain the same. Meanwhile, Ellis, a Black British police inspector, will have to deal with constantly sexist and racist microaggressions from the different staff she encounters, much like D.I. Ray does, with the same drive to see justice done instead of blaming the nearest person of color.

Meanwhile, the first images introduce Ellis and her main right-hand man and give fans their first look at one of the cases the DCI will take on in the show's first season.

Here is the series' synopsis:

DCI Ellis is 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 must 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 will be joined by Miss Scarlet's Andrew Gower, who plays her bagman, DS Chet Harper. Each episode will feature a roster of guest stars forming the ensemble found at each precinct. Thus far, only Kristen Foster (Litvinenko) has been confirmed to be part of that group. The rest of the cast is expected to be revealed in due course.

Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre and Paul Logue penned Ellis' three feature-length episodes, and directors Nick Hurran and Andy & Ryan Tohill split helming duties. Catherine Mackin, Bea Tammer, Michele Buck, and Lucy Raffety executive produce the series. Chris Martin is producer. 

Ellis does not have a firm release date, but it will debut in November 2024 on Acorn TV and "in the autumn of 2024" on Channel 5. It is expected to air and stream as a weekly series.