Ellis (also titled Inspector Ellis) is a British crime drama television series for Channel 5 starring Sharon D. Clarke as Detective Chief Inspector Ellis. It premiered in the United Kingdom on 31 October 2024 on Channel 5 with a three-part series.
A second series, consisting of four episodes, debuted on 10 March 2026.
DCI Ellis and assistant DS Harper are sent to help failing police investigations at different local police stations.
Episode 1: Hanmore
Episode 2: Callorwell
Episode 3: Brindleton
Episodes 4 & 5: Ashenham
Episodes 6 & 7: Elmsly
The series is written by Paul Logue and Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre and produced by Company Pictures. The three-part series consisting of two-hour episodes is executive produced by Catherine Mackin, Bea Tammer, Michele Buck and Lucy Raffety. Chris Martin is series producer.
Filming took place in Northern Ireland in the spring of 2024. Filming locations included Dromore in County Down, Gracehill in County Antrim near Ballymena,
The series was renewed for a second series with filming scheduled for June 2025.
The series was broadcast on Channel 5 in the UK on 31 October 2024.It was launched internationally shortly after on Acorn TV under the title 'Inspector Ellis'.
The season launched with 'Hanmore' as the pilot and brought in 1.3 million viewers.
Writing in the Radio Times, Morgan Cormack said the show was "really rather good" and far from the cosy-crime genre that some viewers may have expected, and that it had some "very topical, gritty subject matter that has some eerie real-world similarities". Cormack also states that âÂÂEllis certainly isn't the first enigmatic detective to grace our screensâ but felt that scriptwriter Ejiwunmi-Le Berre successfully created a character "that doesn't fall into the stereotypical tropes".