[Favourite of the Month] A man is killed by a tube train in the poshest borough of London. Did he jump on the tracks or was he pushed? If he jumped Detective Inspector Max Arnold will have less paperwork to do.
The Chelsea Detective is a brilliant 4 x 90-minute mystery drama from the SVOD service Acorn TV.
The talented Adrian Scarborough (Bloods, Gavin and Stacey) stars as the grumpy, coffee loving DI Max Arnold in this series created by Peter Fincham. Borned and raised in Chelsea, Max travels around the borough by bike. His father, a local bookshop owner, recently passed away and he's just separated from his wife Astrid. She stays in their flat so he lives in a houseboat on Cheyne Walk. Arnold is a shrewd investigator and he hates unnecessary paperwork because he's dyslexic. His police partner is the clever DC Priya Shamsie, played by Sonita Henry (Krypton, Luther), who returns from maternity leave.
In The Wages of Sin, superbly penned by scriptwriter Glen Laker (Prime Suspect 1973, Vera), a stonemason named Andrew Knightley is frightened by something written on the mirror of his living room: The wages of sin is death. He wanders to the South Kensington underground station in a state of confusion and ends up under a train. The detectives discover that this devoutly religious man, who worked at the Brompton Cemetery, was pushed. Max and Astrid have a "custody battle" over a coffee machine. Priya shares her new mum anxiety with her husband. Richard Signy (Death in Paradise, Doctors) directed the episode.
Adrian Scarborough's DI Arnold joins the great British TV detectives right from the start. Sonita Henry is excellent, as well as the other members of the regular cast: Peter Bankolé (DC Connor Pollock), Lucy Phelps (DC Jess Lombard), Sophie Stone (Chief Forensics officer Ashley Wilton), Davood Ghadami as Nitin Shamsie and Anamaria Marinca (Sex Traffic) as Astrid Fischer. Seen in Shetland, The Crown or Doctor Who, Sophie Stone was the first deaf person to enter the prestigious RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in 2005. Frances Barber (Whitstable Pearl) guest stars as Olivia Arnold, Max's aunt.
Also with James Boyland (Nicholas Hewitt), Alfie Deegan (Jake Turner), Amy Griffiths (Rebecca Knightley), Bryony Hannah (Call the Midwife) as Erin Murphy, Richard Hope (Andrew Knightley), Taj Kandula (Joanne), Peter Landi (Davinson Clarke), etc. Produced by Expectation and Acorn Media Enterprises (A division of AMC Networks) with Germany's ZDF and BBC Studios Distribution. Exec produced by Peter Fincham (Expectation), Catherine Mackin and Bea Tammer (Acorn Media Enterprises), Wolfgang Feindt (ZDF) and Catherine Stone (BBC Studios Distribution). Ella Kelly (Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators, Midsomer Murders) is the producer.
The beautiful music was composed by Ian Arber. Cinematography by Rob Kitzmann. Editing by David Barrett. Sophie Allen and Paul Michaels are the BSL (British Sign Language) interpreters. Made with the support of HM Treasury and DCMS' Film and TV Production Restart Scheme. Distributed by BBC Studios, The Chelsea Detective was filmed during spring 2021 in some stunning London locations. The series is available weekly in the U.K. since February 7th and it will premiere in the U.S. and Canada one month later.
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