Inspector Ellis

We like Clarke’s strong, stoic presence as DCI Ellis in Inspector Ellis, which is why we’re recommending the show. But we hope the series has less-confusing and more-engaging mysteries in the other two episodes.

Ms. Clarke makes her [character] daunting and likable, no small accomplishment, but the only way the show could survive. Whether it can indeed move on past this three-episode season is a question.

It might become wearing if it’s repeated too often, this idea of “yokel” cops going for the obvious culprits and failing to spot the nuances until shown the error of their ways by the cleverer, suaver London visitor. But the sheer loneliness of Ellis’s character, living in hotels, a daughter mentioned but not looming large, suggests she will be a surly, complex, unhappy figure.

It’s a long shot, many nascent detective duos having withered on the vine, but it’s the interplay between this latest twist on the chalk and cheese duo, not the sotto voce sleuthing, which might just mark Ellis out from the crowd.

Perhaps Ellis could have been saved by a good editor, pruning it down by (at least) half. Instead, its bloated length and underdeveloped characters made the programme more exasperating than exhilarating.