‘The Chelsea Detective’ is packed with a mysterious story that follows the lives of a pair of detectives named Max Arnold and Priya Shamsie who work side by side to solve some of the mind-boggling and gruesome murders the Chelsea neighborhood has ever seen. Both detectives are different in their own way, living and living their own lives, but working together with a common goal, which is to uncover the truth about the murders.
Created by Peter Fincham, the crime mystery series features dramatic and great performances by Adrian Scarborough, Sonita Henry and Peter Bankole in prominent roles. The thrilling story and subtle addition of humor make this crime series more entertaining and gripping than most other productions in the genre. History has witnessed several instances of some truly gruesome murders as depicted in the series, some, even more, petrifying and worse. So you rightly wonder whether ‘The Chelsea Detective’ is based on a true story or not. Well, we will help you unravel this mystery!
Is the Chelsea detective a true story?
No, ‘The Chelsea Detective’ is not based on a true story. While the series itself may have been inspired by other similar detective stories, including a duo like ‘Sherlock Holmes’, it’s not inspired by real life events or characters. With Arnold and Shamsie working together in such a bleak but at times humorous story, Fincham and the other writers on the team are able to create something so versatile and remarkable that viewers can’t help but ask for more.
In an interview with Nerds That Geek, Adrian Scarborough, who plays Arnold, shared about the inspiration behind all the characters and plot in the crime series: “Well, I think all credit goes to our great writers, and to Peter Fincham for creating something so three dimensional, but Liz Lake and Glen Laker who also wrote about the series, Glen in particular, wrote the first two episodes, and he was just amazingly helpful to have around because he’s obviously been around for a long time involved in the project before I went in. I don’t think I was in their mind at the beginning and it was really great to be able to really ask him, you know, where a lot of these ideas and thoughts come from and what he was doing Sometimes he wasn’t always very helpful because he couldn’t remember, it had been so long since they’d had these conversations and made decisions about the characters that he couldn’t necessarily remember remember what came from where. But I just think it’s a classic example of good writers using their imaginations. You know, it’s great what you pay him for.”
The plot and characters in the series are fresh and new, but the recurring theme of crime and mystery is something that is not special. Let’s take the example of Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick, Dr. Watson, in ‘Sherlock’. Both characters may be contrastingly different in their own way, yet they work very well together and their collaboration is crucial in solving the most ridiculous and baffling cases. ‘Sherlock’ also keeps viewers hooked to the story by luring them with some mind-boggling mysteries to scratch their heads, along with some horrific crimes scattered throughout the series. Wondering where you saw that theme play? Yes, you guessed it right, in ‘The Chelsea Detective’. So despite the fact that ‘The Chelsea Detective’ is full of some realistic crimes and murders seen in real life, the story and characters are figments of the imagination of Fincham and all the writers involved in this project. Moreover, it would also be safe to say that it is an amalgamation of several detective and crime mystery series that preceded it.
Read more: Best Murder Mysteries on Netflix
