Ell raiser
Channel 5 and Acorn TV drama Ellis stars Sharon D Clarke as a top inspector who is parachuted in to solve failing investigations. Executive producer and lead writer Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre opens the file on television’s latest detective. Writer Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre landed her first major television script credit with a BBC adaptation of Murder is Easy, Agatha Christie’s 1939 novel, in which a reluctant sleuth sets out to uncover a killer. Now, in her latest series, she introduces an original TV detective who shares a similar reluctance towards her role as a troubleshooter who is brought in to handle faltering investigations. Three-part drama Ellis stars Sharon D Clarke as the titular DCI Ellis, who in each feature-length episode arrives at a different police station where she must win over the local officers and immerse herself in the cases she has come to solve. As a black woman, Ellis is used to being dismissed and overlooked, yet she is a first-class murder detective with a determination for justice and compassion for those who need it. “For me, she’s like a character in a high-end western. She’s an older gunslinger and doesn’t really want to do it anymore,” Ejiwunmi-Le Berre tells DQ. “She knows what the cost is and has no illusions or romance about it. But she just happens to be incredibly good at this one thing so, in a way, she can’t withhold her talents from the world. “Then when she is called in, she brings all her ambivalence. … Continue reading Ell raiser
