AcornTV has a new detective and the formidable force known on stage and screen as Sharon D Clarke as “Inspector Ellis”.

Clarke was recently catapulted to stardom in two award-winning Broadway and West End revivals: the musical “Caroline, or Change” and “Death of a Salesman.”

In this first season’s three two-hour “Inspector Ellis” episodes, we meet Ellis, discover how he partners with Detective Sergeant Harper (Andrew Gower), and learn that each case is at a different local police station.

This means Ellis must win over stubborn, even obstructive local detectives and solve these murders mostly alone.

That journey began years ago when Clarke, 58, “saw a network commissioning a new series starring a black female detective and I immediately said Yes. It was an absolute no-brainer.”

“I grew up in London, which is a multicultural society. My school was multicultural. But I haven’t seen a self-titled Black female lead on my television. So yes for me! “I wanted to be a part of it.”

He spent 18 months working with writer Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre, developing Ellis’ background, talent and purpose.

“Sian had met Irene Ethel, the first Black female DCI in Liverpool. We both chatted with him.

“We talked about what kind of music Ellis likes, what he likes to drink, where he comes from, where he grew up. He has his Bible next to his phone charger. “All we had was pieces of it.”

Additionally, “The police are an institutionally racist organization. When I was growing up, joining the police force wasn’t something people did. Because they were on the other side. They were enemies.

“Ellis’s background is that he has a degree in social psychology, works for the local Crime and Public Protection Department, and stands out for his love of the mind and emotions, as well as real investigative skills: how people act, what makes them tick, what goes into their thoughts. dots together.”

This leads to Ellis being drafted into the police. “He resists at first because of his experience. But then he thinks: ‘If I had been in such an organization at that time, could I have helped from the inside? ‘Would it have turned out differently if a Black person had been involved?’

“So he actually starts to think: Yes, I’m going to attend the Met. And so he does.

“What I love about him is the way his mind works, the way he puts things together, and the way he cares about the case: not through the evidence, but through the people. This is Ellis’ key. “He’s tough but sensitive.”

“Inspector Ellis” airs November 4 on Acorn TV