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Ellis
(aka: Inspector Ellis)

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Ellis (Series)
Their case. Her rules.

Ellis (retitled to Inspector Ellis for some exports) is a 2024 British detective series, originally screened on Channel 5.

DCI Ellis (Sharon D. Clarke), an experienced detective who's newly returned to the British police after an absence that's not initially explained to the audience, now takes up a troubleshooting role.

Each episode sees Ellis and her junior officer DS Harper (Andrew Gower) sent to a different location to take control of a struggling investigation. Ellis, a Black British detective from the south, tends to find herself faced with defensive and uncooperative officers and investigations in overwhelmingly white, rural, northern English communities.

Episodes are named after the fictional locations they're set in.

A trailer is here.


Ellis contains examples of the following tropes:

  • Abortion Fallout Drama: As Ellis gets closer to the truth in "Hanmore", it becomes clear that murdered teenager Rowan secretly drove a woman to an abortion clinic in the week before his death. The first reveal is that she wasn't his girlfriend Maggie, she was his cousin Amy. The second, which Ellis only realises after visiting Amy, is that Rowan wasn't the father - Amy's abusive father was. And that's the motive for the murder.
  • Accidental Murder: In "Callorwell", Jenny Lawler's killer didn't initially mean to kill her. But when they struggled in the woods, Jenny fell on a broken bottle which sliced her femoral artery. Subverted when, after initially creating a tourniquet and offering first aid, the killer realised that saving Jenny would inevitably lead to arrest for their other crimes, so untied the tourniquet again and let her bleed out.
  • Adventure Towns: Each episode sees DCI Ellis and DS Harper in a different location, dealing with a new case where the local police are struggling. The only recurring characters are Ellis, Harper and their superior officer.
  • Ambiguous Gender Identity: In "Hanmore", the character of Rain Bradley is coded as a trans woman, but that's never directly stated within the episode. However, there are hints when DCI Belmont makes snarky "they/them" pronoun comments about her (Rain uses she/her), and seems to be a factor in why Aaron is so worried about his macho, belligerent father discovering his Secret Relationship with Rain.
  • Colliding Criminal Conspiracies: "Callorwell" is the result of several schemes colliding. Police detective Jenny Rawler had a Secret Relationship with gang member Curtis Keogh and leaked information about an investigation into Keogh's mother, drug baron Carla Duffy. Tim Jones mistakenly believes that Rawler told the press he was a sex offender, so has been stalking her and sending anonymous death threats. Rawler's stepson Mark has been dealing drugs at university, drawing the attention of Duffy's gang. And Smug Snake DI Morrison is a Dirty Cop destroying evidence and abandoning inconvenient cases. Things collide when Rawler discovers that Mark is dealing drugs and about to be targeted by Duffy's gang, then dies confronting his supplier, leaving a bag full of drugs which fall into her stalker Tim Jones' possession.
  • Confess to a Lesser Crime: In the final confrontation of "Hanmore", Eric Mercer admits to disposing of Rowan's body, but claims his daughter Amy accidentally killed Rowan to protect him. At this point he still seems to be weighing up whether he attacks Ellis or tries to talk his way out. It's undermined when Ellis points out that Rowan wasn't actually dead until the car was dropped into the lake — so even if a court were to believe his tale, he'd still be the killer.
  • Crime After Crime: In "Callorwell", poverty drives Naomi to sell stolen medical drugs to her friend Jenny's stepson Mark, who then sells them to other students at his university. When Jenny, a police officer, confronts her, Naomi physically assaults her. After Jenny's seriously injured, falling on broken glass, Naomi initially tries to help but then realises that Jenny will report her — so unties her tourniquet so that she bleeds out, cleans the murder scene and texts a Forged Message to Jenny's boss.
  • Dirty Cop:
    • In "Callorwell" DI Morrison is a Smug Snake who orders a subordinate to destroy evidence of death threats against a colleague, then lies about it to Ellis and Harper. He also obstructs a rape victim's attempt to report the attack. However, this isn't directly related to the disappearance and murder of DS Jenny Rawler, or to the collapse of the case against Carla Duffy. He seems to be a glory hound who cuts corners and covers up mistakes, rather than actively working with criminals.
    • In "Callorwell", murdered detective Jenny Lawler was in a Secret Relationship with gangster Curtis Keogh, son of drug baroness Carla Duffy. Prior to her death, she leaked police information to them - although Curtis claims Jenny only leaked information once, and that he never asked her to do so.
  • Embarrassing Alibi: In "Hanmore", DCI Belmont is sure that the missing girl's stepfather is the culprit because CCTV doesn't support his alibi. Despite Ellis pressuring him to tell the truth, he won't change his story, He was actually trying to steal farm machinery when she vanished, but refused to admit it because he believed his wife and family would reject him if they knew he was stealing.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: In "Callorwell", Carla Duffy's a drug baron with connections to people trafficking and violent crime. When talking to Ellis, she also makes it clear that anyone murdering a pregnant police officer no longer enjoys her protection, even if the killer was her own son.
  • Forged Message: In "Callorwell", missing detective Jenny Lawler's final message was an emergency leave request, sent to DCI Hain by text message. Ellis immediately takes an interest, as the procedure is that leave requests are send to an officer's direct superior (DI Morrison, not DCI Hain) by internal email. Callorwell is sloppy about procedures, and Hain hadn't picked it up as a cause for concern. The message was actually sent by Lawler's killer to misdirect any initial investigation and buy them some time.
  • Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Each season one episode is named after the fictional town or area it's set in (Hanmore, Callorwell and Brindleton).
  • Inspector Lestrade: The first episode's investigation is initially led by DCI Jim Belmont, a surly man who's convinced the missing girl's stepfather killed her. He's defensive and more interested in undermining Ellis than working with her. He also comes across as prejudiced - his initial suspect just happens to be the only person involved who's not white, a sexist comment gets aimed at one junior officer and he mocks "they/them" pronouns when discussing one suspect. DS Harper, tired of his superior's behaviour, eventually tells him to "fuck off". None of which stops Belmont from taking all the credit when Ellis brings in the real culprit.
  • Karma Houdini: In "Hanmore", DCI Jim Belmont is a blunt and prejudiced cop who steers the investigation towards his preferred suspect regardless of other evidence and actively tries to undermine Ellis. He belittles his staff, including at least one sexist comment, and mockingly uses they/them pronouns when discussing someone involved in the case. Despite this his career is unharmed and he gets all the credit (at least publicly) once Ellis catches the real culprit.
  • Look Both Ways: In "Hanmore", missing teenager Maggie unexpectedly reappears, running across a rural road at night while drugged and confused. She's promptly hit by a car. The driver stops, and she's hospitalised but survives — but it does mean she's not immediately able to assist the police.
  • Market-Based Title: The series is Ellis when screened by Channel 5 in the UK. It's Inspector Ellis when screened internationally by Acorn TV.
  • The Queenpin: In "Callorwell", the middle-aged gangster Carla Duffy runs a criminal organisation involved in supplying drugs and people trafficking. Carla claims that she treats everyone working for her as family and presents herself as Affably Evil when meeting Ellis, but it's also clear that very bad things will happen to people who cross her gang.
  • Secret Relationship:
    • In "Hanmore", Aaron is secretly seeing Rain Bradley, the missing girl's sister. Aaron's convinced that his father would not approve of the relationship, so is keeping it hidden.
    • In "Callorwell", police officer Jenny Lawler was having a secret affair with Curtis Keogh, son of drug baron Carla Duffy. They were planning to flee and start a new life together when Jenny was murdered.
  • Tampering with Food and Drink: In "Hanmore", Maggie's drink is spiked with ketamine on the night she vanishes. Everyone around her assumes she's just extremely drunk.


Alternative Title(s): Inspector Ellis

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