We’re getting closer to the release of Andrew Gower‘s new detective drama Ellis in which he’ll play DS Harper, right-hand man to the titular DCI Ellis (Sharon D. Clarke).
The first of the 3 two-hour episodes will premiere on 4 November 2024 on Acorn (in the USA). The series’ British home Channel 5 hasn’t announced an air date for Ellis yet but they teased it’s going to be 2024, so British audiences won’t have to wait too long either.
#WatchThisSpace for more news as soon and when we get them!
DCI Ellis is a tenacious cop who is parachuted into failing investigations. Each episode sees her and 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. 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.
Harper marks one of Andrew’s biggest roles to date and we couldn’t be more excited to meet him!
Andrew Gower recently talked to Express.co.uk about his upcoming crime drama Ellis, which will come to Channel 5 in the UK soon as well as Acorn TV in the USA.
Ellis will consist of three two-hour episodes which is one of the things that sparked Andrew’s interest as it allows the audience to “sit” with the characters. He also named Sharon D. Clarke, who plays the titular DCI Ellis, as one of the things that drew him to this project:
When you talk about somebody attracting you to a project, Sharon [D. Clarke] is an icon of theatre and on TV and musically. The music conversations we had during that job were just incredible. So I’ve admired her work from afar.
A Female-led Story
Growing up in a female household I’m always attracted to those stories, telling tales of strong females. If females led the world, we’d be in a much better place.
Partners in Crime
Ellis and her partner DS Harper (played by Andrew Gower) are parachuted into failing cases and often find themselves facing hostile local law enforcement as they investigate a fresh crime. Although Ellis and Harper are drafted in to work together, Gower teased a tricky dynamic between them.
It gets off to a disastrous beginning. Their meet cute is disastrous, which is a great way to kick off a relationship. Even in episode one, the journey that Harper goes on in Ellis is the best rollercoaster – round and round, side to side.
Fundamentally, I think they’re both outsiders, whether Harper wants to say he is or not. Like the best partners in life, they compliment each other, whether they want to say that or not. From the outside, hopefully the audience will see it.
Crime Drama
Andrew recently portrayed a different sleuth in Netflix’s hit drama YOU opposite Penn Badgley:
In You, I kinda of scratched the surface with the detective role but this is the first time I guess I’ve been able to make my own stamp on what is a real institution, especially over in Britain and the US – detective shows there are so many of them you could list them.
Maybe there are too many to list but we can give you the ones that Andrew appeared in! This year he made guest appearances in popular British crime dramas Sherwood and Van der Valk.
He played a man who believed himself to be the great detective Sherlock Holmes in Canadian Murdoch Mysteries, gave an unforgettable performance as Nicholas Myers in the Season 2 finale of Endeavour and won everyone’s heart as Eliza’s clumsy sidekick Rupert Parker in Miss Scarlet & The Duke.
He gained first experience as a member of the police force as DC Jared Ansell in Black Work alongside Sheridan Smith and Matthew McNulty. We are sure all this preparation will make him an excellent Detective Sergeant on Ellis!
Trailer
Watch this trailer for new and returning series coming to Channel 5 this fall including scenes from Ellis:
Gregor Albers (Ruurt de Maesschalck), a former driver for mobster boss Bibi Franken (Anastasia Hille) and now waiting to testify in a preliminary court hearing, is killed in a police safehouse. When Commissaris Piet van der Valk (Marc Warren) arrives at the scene, he is surprised to find his ex-girlfriend Kalie Tenkers (Kim Riedle), a policewoman, there and tasked with protecting the witness.
Things have obviously not ended well between the pair as Van der Valk immediately suspects her of murdering her charge but soon the real killer is found. Jacko Gallas (Coen Bril) is known to be on Bibi Franken’s payroll but refuses to speak when Van der Valk and his right-hand woman Inspecteur Lucienne Hassell (Maimie McCoy) question him.
Daan (Ben Batt), Bibi’s son, is another witness and under police protection. Despite the circumstances, he is determined to go through with his testimony. Van der Valk is assigned to accompany Daan to the secure facility where the hearing will take place. Before leaving for Daan’s safehouse, Van der Valk decides to pay Bibi’s other son, Xavi Franken (Andrew Gower) a visit.
Xavi is the owner of vegan cafes, which are rumoured be have been started with Bibi’s blood money. Otherwise Xavi doesn’t seem to be involved in her criminal enterprises. Van der Valk needs to figure out how the unsolved death of a young woman named Sophie Lommel is connected to his case while several things go wrong.
Visit our Gallery for more screencaps from this episode!
After a whistleblower is murdered under police protection, the team are called in to make sure the second whistleblower makes it to court to testify and take down a criminal empire. Van der Valk is conflicted when he finds out the protection officer in charge of the murdered whistleblower is a former flame of his.
The investigation continues after a whistleblower is murdered. The team are offered the chance to work with the head of the criminal empire to find the killer. Will Van der Valk take the opportunity, or go it alone?
What to Expect in Season 4
There don’t seem to be any release dates for other countries so far but we’ll let you know as soon as we find out more. #WatchThisSpace!
It doesn’t really come as a surprise but now we have confirmation: The Winter King has been officially cancelled after only one season. After the lack of news for months we’ve been suspecting this would happen.
A former TV queen and current TV king are both ending their short-lived reigns on MGM+. Neither Beacon 23 nor The Winter King will return to the streamer for additional seasons, TVLine has learned.
They’re expressing hope that “either or both series could ostensibly be shopped to other outlets” but even this possibility seems unlikely after most of the main cast seems to have moved on to other projects, including Andrew Gower‘s new role in upcoming crime drama Ellis.
Deadline also has confirmed that The Winter King was axed by British streamer and co-producer ITVX.
Reviews for The Winter King were divided with The Guardian labelling it “medieval nonsense” and Forbes calling it a “crushing disappointment” despite a nomination in the Best Drama category at the 2024 Broadcast Digital Awards.
Despite the occasional flaw, we were hoping to see more of Bernard Cornwell’s book series being adapted on screen and were looking forward to seeing more of Sansum (Andrew Gower), the “Mouse Lord” – as he is nicknamed by the story’s narrator Derfel (played by Stuart Campbell) – and his blossoming love story with Morgan (played by Valene Kane).
In an announcement for Season 4 of popular TV drama Van der Valk, we stumbled across a familiar name: our Andrew Gower is obviously aiming for a crime solving hat-trick (following his guest role on Sherwood and preceding his lead role on Ellis)!
Van der Valk is a loose remake of the original Van der Valk series that ran from 1972 to 1992 on ITV (UK) and based on the series of crime thriller novels by Nicolas Freeling. The reboot premiered in the UK on 26 April 2020, the Season 2 on 7 August 2022, and Season 3 on 18 June 2023.
The series is set in present-day Amsterdam, where police Commissioner Piet van der Valk (Marc Warren) investigates challenging cases with his partner Lucienne Hassell (Maimie McCoy) and colleagues in the National Police Force‘s major crimes division.
Luke-Allen Dale (Daniel Springer) & Andrew Gower (Andrew Mullory) on Monroe
Here’s what you can expect from Season 4:
Van der Valk and his team return to investigate new crimes in Amsterdam. In addition to solving murder cases, Van der Valk has to deal with an unwelcome past romance resurfacing as well as find a way to make one of his beloved team members confront their own mortality.
“Safe in Amsterdam”: After a whistleblower is murdered under police protection, the team is called in to make sure the second whistleblower makes it to court to testify and take down a criminal empire. Van der Valk is conflicted when he finds out the protection officer in charge of the murdered whistleblower is a former flame of his. But when they are offered the chance to work with the head of the criminal empire to find the killer, will Van der Valk take the opportunity or go it alone?
“Hope in Amsterdam”: The team investigates an environmental campaigner who is murdered on the eve of a global conference. One of several potential suspects would appear to be Cobie Stegenga, a famous singer who went missing and is presumed dead. Van Der Valk connects with Cobie’s father to find out the truth, but after another shocking murder, could Stegenga be the prime suspect?
“Secrets in Amsterdam”: Van der Valk and the team are assigned to find the killer of a scientist researching a potential breakthrough in the treatment of cancer. Van der Valk’s ex-flame Kalie Tenkers returns to help the team investigate why he was killed and if there is a link to pharmaceutical billionaire Freddie Klink. After more shocking murders, seemingly by a professional killer, the team moves in on Klink. But is he the mastermind trying to stop a medical breakthrough from becoming public?
Andrew’s American fans can enjoy the new episodes starting on Sunday, 15 September 2024 at 10 pm E.T. on most local PBS stations, the PBS app, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. The series’ 3 feature-length episodes will be split into six two-parters airing weekly. All episodes will be available as a binge for PBS Passport members on premiere day.
As soon as we find out a release date for Season 4 on ITV and in other countries, we’ll let you know.
Some of you might have already noticed this: We are currently undergoing some major changes with our Gallery.
While we absolutely loved our previous provider, we had to make the difficult decision to find a new home for our vast collection of screencaps and stills.
This means we’re busy saving almost 60k of pictures and uploading them to the new space.
As you can imagine, this is going to take some time. Unfortunately, it also leads to a plethora of broken links all across our website but we are determined to get this done as quickly as humanly possible.
Please let us know if you come across any broken links that we might have missed OR if you’re looking for specific photos or screencaps. We’ll fix it and will send you the link asap.
Please accept our apology for the inconvenience this might cause and we thank you for your patience and continued support for Andrew Gower and this website. ❤️
The plot in the new season of crime drama Sherwood thickens and Andrew Gower is back as Jamie!
The already incredibly tense BBC drama Sherwood went up a notch in the most recent episode, as crime families found themselves embroiled in a blood war, and a notorious character from series one made a surprise reappearance.
While we’ve been (im-)patiently waiting for news about Andrew Gower‘s upcoming detective drama Ellis, where he plays lead character DS Chet Harper alongside (Sharon D. Clarke) as the titular DCI Ellis, he made a surprise guest appearance in the highly anticipated second season of Sherwood.
Season 2 premiered on 25 August 2024 with Andrew’s episode 2 airing the following night on 26 August 2024. Season 1 is available on BBC iPlayer in the UK with Season 2 episodes being added after their terrestrial broadcast on BBC One.
We’re currently trying to find out more about Andrew’s character Jamie and how he’s involved in the murder mystery. We’ll let you know as soon as possible!
Only days after we’ve been treated with the first images from upcoming detective series Ellis, Acorn TV are now debuting a first teaser trailer.
It’s not the physical evidence that makes a story. It’s the people in between and the things that join those people together. Hate, love, and fear. Their lives are never the same again.
You can watch the trailer below:
DCI Ellis (Sharon D. Clarke) is a formidable cop who takes over the most challenging unsolved cases across Northwest England. Armed with integrity and razor-sharp instincts, Ellis steps in with unyielding determination as the last hope for failing investigations. Her unflappable demeanor disguises a deep-seated compassion for the victims, fueled by her complicated past. Amidst lies, secrets, and neglect, Ellis seeks justice for victims and truth for survivors.
In her endeavours DCI Ellis is accompanied by her right-hand man DS Chet Harper, played by Andrew Gower.
Ellis is set to be released later this year on Channel 5 in the UK and on Acorn TV in the USA. We’ll let you know as soon as we find out more!
Andrew Gower Online 