The Chelsea Detective

AMC Networks' Acorn TV and ZDF are excited to announce the commissioning of UK drama The Chelsea Detective with Acorn Media Enterprises from Expectation (In My Skin, Guilt).

Created by Peter Fincham, the 4 x 90-minute series stars Adrian Scarborough (Gavin & Stacey, Killing Eve) as Detective Inspector Max Arnold, who lives on a battered houseboat at the end of Cheyne Walk. Max is the son of a local bookshop owner and was born and bred in Chelsea, but he's a far cry from the affluent elite whose crimes he'll help solve. Recently separated from his art dealer wife Astrid (Anamaria Marinca - 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days; Sex Traffic) Max still hopes one day to move back into their apartment in nearby Cadogan Square.

Each episode sees Max and Streatham-born D.C. Priya Shamsie played by Sonita Henry (Luther, Krypton) investigate a wide range of crimes. Storylines in the first series feature a stonemasons' workshop at Brompton Cemetery; a fashionable school for international students; a family-owned Italian restaurant which is on the brink of expansion; and a local garden centre linked to the unsavoury past of Chelsea FC football hooliganism.

The feature-length episodes are written by Glen Laker (Vera, Prime Suspect), Peter Fincham and Liz Lake (Riviera; Call the Midwife). Production will begin in April 2021.

Acorn TV will feature its world premiere in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, among others in 2022. BBC Studios is distributing the series internationally.