Adrian Scarborough is The Chelsea Detective

Renowned actor Adrian Scarborough takes the lead in brand new Acorn TV Original drama The Chelsea Detective.

If you’re walking along the river Thames in Chelsea, you might spot Detective Inspector Max Arnold (Scarborough) tending to the plants on his houseboat after separating from his art dealer wife Astrid (Anamaria Marinca), just yards from some of the most valuable real estate in Europe.

Chelsea is a beautiful borough for beautiful people, but it has a dark underside of deprivation, violence, greed – and murder. Bodies have a way of showing up, and things are rarely what they seem, but Max’s determination and acuity mean he’ll find a way to root out the truth and bring those responsible to justice – regardless of their wealth or status.

DC Arnold and his trusty colleague Streatham-born D.C. Priya Shamsie played by Sonita Henry investigate, across the first series, the death of a stonemason on the London Underground leads Max into what seems at first like a real life haunting.

The victim was a lonely, devout and troubled man who believed himself to be haunted by a spirit leaving him vengeful Biblical messages. Might a real-world  explanation be found as they uncover the truth of his life – illicit drugs, bribery, broken family relationships and a man tormented by a terrible secret?

Then there’s a social media sensation and the wife of a restauranteur who is reported missing. As the race to find her alive is transformed into a murder investigation, Max finds himself delving into a combustible mixture of family politics and tensions over the running of their Chelsea eatery.

Also, a well-liked local security guard is found stabbed to death on a patch of waste ground, leaving behind his terminally ill wife. The evidence initially points to a drug deal gone wrong but Max and Priya soon discover that nothing about the life of their victim is as it seems in an investigation that reaches from the luxury homes of the super-rich to street-corner drug dealers and a teacher at a prestigious international school is found murdered in his own home shortly before a planned move to Japan. Scratch the surface and it turns out there’s no shortage of suspects, ranging from feuding colleagues to disgruntled parents, in the murder of this apparently well-liked man.

Created by Peter Fincham the feature-length episodes are written by Glen Laker, Peter Fincham and Liz Lake. The four-part show makes its UK TV debut on Monday 7th February 2022 exclusively on Acorn TV, with later episodes to follow weekly on Mondays.