Channel 5 has confirmed the air date for the first episode of its upcoming crime drama Ellis – which stars Sharon D Clarke in the title role as a "tenacious" detective.

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The series will begin airing on the channel at 8pm on Thursday 31st October, so there's not long to wait before viewers can find out what's in store.

Ellis also stars Outlander's Andrew Gower as DCI Lewis's professional partner DS Harper, with the show following the pair as they are parachuted in to try to solve a number of different cases that have stalled or failed.

"Each two-hour episode sees Ellis – accompanied by her right-hand man DS Harper – arrive at a different police station, where she will have to win over the local detectives and immerse herself in the cases she has come to solve," the official synopsis reads.

"As a Black female cop, Ellis is used to being dismissed and overlooked, but she is a first-class murder detective, with a determination for justice and a deep well of compassion for those who need it."

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Andrew Gower as DS Chet Harper and Sharon D Clarke as DCI Ellis in Ellis, standing in front of a lake wearing warm clothing, while a car is seen in the lake behind them.
Andrew Gower as DS Chet Harper and Sharon D Clarke as DCI Ellis in Ellis. Channel 5

Channel 5 revealed two first-look images of the drama back in August, with one showing DCI Ellis stood in what appears to be a police station corridor as she looks pensively out of a window and the other showing her and DS Harper leaning down over a dead body in the middle of a crime scene.

The series will consist of three feature-length instalments and is written by Paul Logue (known for his work on Shetland and Vera) and Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre, who most recently adapted Agatha Christie's Murder Is Easy for the BBC.

A three-time Olivier Award winner, Clarke is known to TV audiences for her longstanding role in Holby City and parts in Doctor Who, where she played Ryan's grandmother Grace, plus Showtrial. Informer, and the Prime Video film Red, White & Royal Blue.

Meanwhile Gower's other credits – in addition to the role of Prince Charles Stuart in Outlander – include Being Human, Carnival Row and You, as well as the Black Mirror episode Crocodile.

Ellis will begin airing at 8pm on Thursday 31st October on Channel 5.

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