Sharon D Clarke as DCI Ellis
A brand new three-part detective drama series filmed in Gracehill and other locations around Northern Ireland is set to air this week on television.
The beautiful Moravian village of Gracehill, Ballymena, looked the part earlier this year when filming crews rolled in to shoot Ellis for Channel 5 and Acorn TV.
Scenes filmed in the village will feature in the first episode of the series which includes Gracehill Old Schoolhouse transformed into Hanmore Police Station.
Gracehill Old Schoolhouse as Hanmore Police Station, pictured during filming in February. (Image Jackie Neill)
The series follows DCI Ellis (Sharon D Clarke), a tenacious cop who is parachuted into failing investigations. Each two-hour episode sees Ellis – accompanied by her right-hand man DS Harper (Andrew Gower) – arrive at a different police station, where she must win over the local detectives and immerse herself in the cases she has come to solve.
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.
The first episode begins when 18-year-old Rowan Edwards is found dead, DCI Ellis is called on by ACC Alison Leighton to take over the investigation. Rowan’s girlfriend Maggie has not been seen since Rowan’s death, and they need results fast.
Missing poster for Maggie Bradley attached to a fence in Hanmore (Gracehill), pictured during filming in February. (Image: Jackie Neill)
Rowan’s mother, an ex-MP, has doubts about the capabilities of the local force, but the current Senior Investigative Officer is sure he has the murderer in his sights and is less than impressed to have been shunted off the case.
He assigns DS Chet Harper to keep an eye on Ellis, not trusting her at all. Ellis starts to dig under the surface of the town and soon sees that in Hanmore, parents know nothing about the lives of their children.
Filming crews in Gracehill back in February. (Image: Jackie Neill)
Ellis airs on Thursday, 31 October at 8pm on Channel 5.