Prior to
Bad Girls, Ellis's most prominent TV role was Detective Inspector Muddyman in
Prime Suspect. Ellis was also seen in
Heartbeat, and has appeared in many TV series, including in
The Fugitives (2005), playing the part of Salko;
Blue Murder in the episode "Steady Eddie", portraying Dan Fulford;
Highlander: The Series; and in the film
Hunter, where he played the lead role. Ellis is one of the few performers to have acted in both
Inspector Morse and its spin-off series
Lewis. His first major part since
Bad Girls came in summer 2006; Ellis appeared in several episodes of ITV drama
Where the Heart Is as businessman Robert Ashford. In 1994, Ellis played the part of Eddie Barton, a senior HM Customs & Excise Investigation Division officer based at
Heathrow Airport, who had to retire through ill health caused by
motor neurone disease in all seven episodes of series one of
The Knock. The disease eventually pushes him into paranoia and death by suicide. In late 2005, Ellis starred in
A Few Good Men at London's
Theatre Royal, Haymarket, playing opposite
Rob Lowe,
John Barrowman and
Suranne Jones. Ellis started his role on
Coronation Street as the new Rosamund Street betting shop owner
Harry Mason in December 2007. He ran the shop with his son Dan, played by ex-
The Bill star
Matthew Crompton. Also in 2007, Ellis appeared in an episode of
Rome. Ellis starred in the
Theatre Royal, Windsor pantomime
Peter Pan (Christmas 2008) playing
Captain Hook, also at the Opera House Belfast in 2005.
Sam Mendes directed Ellis as Hastings in a
William Shakespeare's
Richard III starring
Kevin Spacey. The show began in June 2011 and toured the world, culminating in a season at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York in early 2012. Later in 2012, he toured in a new production of Dickens'
Great Expectations playing Jaggers. The production opened in the
West End of London in February 2013 at the
Vaudeville Theatre. In 2014, he starred as Deputy Governor Danforth in the much acclaimed production of
The Crucible by Arthur Miller directed by Yael Farber at the Old Vic. Ellis has also performed as the King and Le Diable in ''Les trois Cheveux d'or du Diable
in Montlaur in French, and co-devised and co-directed Shakespeare Mon Amour'' with Maria Cassi in Florence. In 2016, Ellis starred as Warden Stammas in the theatre production of Stephen King's
The Shawshank Redemption, alongside
Paul Nicholls and
Ben Onwukwe. ==Filmography==