Ellis creator points out 'problem' with rivals Death In Paradise and Midsomer Murders

Sian Ejiwunmi-Lee Berre, the lead writer of Ellis, has spilled the beans on what sets the Channel 5 drama apart from other detective hits like Death In Paradise and Midsomer Murders.

The show throws DCI Ellis, portrayed by the talented Sharon D Clarke, into the heart of failing investigations across various towns - the first mission being to track down a missing person named Maggie tied to a murder case.

Sian confidently outlines what makes Ellis so unique compared to established shows such as Death In Paradise, Midsomer Murders, and Inspector Morse.

She explained: "A lot of big detective shows are very site-specific. Whether it's Death in Paradise, Midsomer Murders, or even Inspector Morse, it's about the place. This is about her.

"And she brings her very specific understanding of how people work to wherever she goes; her mantra is that everything is made different by love, fear, hate, or anger, and she digs into the character of a town. So, the changing character in each episode is the town and obviously the people in it but the town itself has a particular flaw."

Ejiwunmi-Lee Berre further distinguishes Ellis from its peers by highlighting the nomadic nature of its leading duo.

"Most police dramas operate around the station where they have their colleagues and their routines, whatever they are, but they have their community. For Ellis and Harper, it's just them. And they work with the police station, but they're always working with different people," she said.

Sharon opened up about her reasons for joining the cast, highlighting her desire to use the platform for positive influence.

"I've never seen a Black, dark-skinned female woman in a title role in a cop show, ever. And that alone is the biggest draw for me before anything had gone in the script," she shared.

"If someone has this vision and someone wants to put that out there to the nation ... I always think that, when we do what we do in our industry as actors, we should be entertaining, we should elevate, we should inspire, we should educate and we should spark debate, start some kind of conversation."

She further commented: "Something like Ellis is going to do that because it's not been seen before and so that was the draw for me, completely and utterly before I'd even seen any scripts."

*Ellis airs on Channel 5 and My5.