Exclusive: Sharon D Clarke talks Acorn TV’s Inspector Ellis
Hitting Acorn TV on November 4 is the detective drama series, Inspector Ellis, starring Sharon D. Clarke. The riveting three-part series follows DCI Ellis (Clarke), a tenacious cop who is parachuted into failing investigations.
Each two-hour episode will see Ellis, accompanied by her right-hand man DS Harper, played by Andrew Gower (The Winter King, Carnival Row, Outlander), arrive at a different local police station, where she will have to win over the local detectives and immerse herself in the cases she’s come to solve. As a Black female cop, Ellis is used to being dismissed and overlooked, but remains focused on her work as a first-class murder detective, fueled by a determination for justice and a deep well of compassion for those who need it.
The series marks the return of Clarke to our TV screens a few years after her star turn in the history-making “Death of a Salesman” on Broadway, a groundbreaking production of the iconic play seen through the eyes of an African American family, where she plays yet another strong, empowered woman.
She is a three-time Olivier Award winner, and is best known to television audiences for her role as Lola Griffin in the medical drama Holby City, and as Grace O'Brien in Doctor Who. Clarke has also played lead roles in many West End musicals, and originated the roles of the Killer Queen in We Will Rock You and Oda Mae Brown in Ghost the Musical. In October 2020, she won her third Olivier for her role in the revival of Death of a Salesman at London's Young Vic.
