NEW COP on the block

SHARON D CLARKE on why she hopes TV's latest detective brings something fresh to our screens

- CAREN CLARK

ELLIS NEW THURSDAY, 8PM, CHANNEL 5 DRAMA

Sharon D Clarke is embroiled in a tense interrogation as her shrewd crime-fighter DCI Ellis tries to extract information from a suspect. TV Times has been invited to Bangor, Northern Ireland, where a former bank is doubling as a busy police station in England’s Peak District for Channel 5’s new crime drama Ellis.

‘DCI Ellis is cool, I like her! She is undaunted and dogged,’ enthuses former Holby City star Sharon, 58, who can also currently be seen in BBC1’s Mr Loverman. ‘And if you see a lead character with their name in the title and she looks like me, I’m on board. I didn’t grow up seeing that on television.’

The three-part series hopes to offer a twist on the traditional procedural set-up, with Ellis never in one place for long, because she is sent to various police stations across the Peaks as a troubleshooter to take over flawed investigations.

Her single-minded methods often bring her into conflict with resentful local officers, but when she meets ambitious DS Chet Harper (Outlander’s Andrew Gower) in the opening episode, they gradually forge a solid partnership and he joins her on her subsequent missions.

Here, Sharon shares what makes her character tick…

Why do you think this show will stand out from other detective dramas?