Vanessa Emme joins “The Chelsea Detective” as DS Layla Walsh, the brand new partner of bicycle-riding DI Max Arnold (Adrian Scarborough).
But being the newbie in a series now in its second season on Acorn TV wasn’t too difficult for Emme, a veteran of UK crimefighting procedurals including “Bloodlands” and “Dublin Murders” who said she “loves the genre” — but can be “a large comedy fan.”
“What I particularly love about anything I watch is … if you get to know who’re you’re watching on screen, even when it’s driven very much by motion or comedy,” she said. “Attending to peel the layers off of individuals on screen and the stories behind them is what I’m drawn to no matter [the genre].
“That’s what I loved exploring with Layla and Max and the remaining of the [‘Chelsea Detective’] team — who these individuals are inside except for the intense crimes they solve.”
The four-episode second season of “The Chelsea Detective” picks up, thematically, from Season 1, with the dyslexic, coffee-drinking Max Arnold — who lives on a houseboat on the Thames — solving murders within the fashionable, wealthy area of West London. He’s now teamed with Layla, who’s not afraid to talk her mind — as did Arnold’s Season 1 partner, DS Priya Shamsie (Sonita Henry).
![Vanessa Emme and Adrian Scarborough as Layla Walsh and Max Arnold. They're standing side-by-side in a laboratory; she's holding a clipboard and they're looking directly at the camera.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/NYPICHPDPICT000026753011.jpg?w=1024)
“I feel she’s the visceral companion to Max Arnold’s cerebral approach,” Emme said of Layla. “She speaks her mind with practically zero filter and lacks patience for nonsense; she tends to roll her eyes in any respect the surplus she witnesses … and definitely brings some judgment along with her and keeps her private life very private.
“She’s very much married to her work and every little thing else type of just matches in around that,” she said. “It’s really cool the best way they introduce Layla to the series — from the get-go, you get sense of what her essence is, what she’s about, and that lands her strongly on her two feet on the precinct.
“It’s a extremely good start line for the remaining of the season.”
![Adrian Scarborough as DI Max Arnold. He's at a crime scene and is holding his bicycle. There are two police cars behind him.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/NYPICHPDPICT000026752529.jpg?w=1024)
Emme said that one element, particularly, drives this season of “The Chelsea Detective.”
“What makes [the series] stand out to me is the juxtaposition of dry humor and the perfection of the Chelsea veneer against its serious and dark underbelly,” she said. “I really like the proven fact that it allows space for lightness and humor to enter what’s otherwise a really serious world.
“It really breathes life and energy into the show; the characters are so serious working on those cases and it’s our nature to inject humor where we will to alleviate stress … it’s an element of [the show] that’s done thoroughly.”
![](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/NYPICHPDPICT000026752538-1.jpg?w=1024)
And, because the season progresses, viewers will see Max and Layla more in tune with one another’s quirks, Emme said.
“What’s lovely is that because these two characters are brand-new to one another you’ll see their relationship grow throughout the season, which I feel is special and beautiful,” she said. “They’ve good chemistry and work off one another well; there’s a natural human understanding between them.
“Their relationship definitely grows very strongly as a partnership, and I’m really pleased with that.”
Season 2 of “The Chelsea Detective” premieres Aug. 28 on Acorn TV.