He appeared in many guest roles in TV shows throughout the 1970s, including episodes of The Professionals, Dempsey and Makepeace and Bergerac, and in the films Rosie Dixon – Night Nurse (1978), Lady Oscar (1979), Minder, Brush Strokes and Buster (1988), based on the Great Train Robbery of 1963.
In 1981 he had a notable role as bent DI in the ITV crime mini-series Wolcott, a performance with marked similarities to his later work in The Bill.
After an absence of five years, Burnside returned on a semi-regular basis from 1998 to 2000 having been promoted to the rank of Detective Chief Inspector during the interim.
[citation needed] In 2003, Ellison played the lead role in the revived series of Fort Boyard, which aired on Challenge.
[5] In 1989, Ellison illustrated the children's books Otto and the Sea Circus, written by his future The Bill co-star Tom Cotcher.
A follow-up volume, Witness Statements: Making The Bill (1988) was published in 2022, also featuring memories from Ellison about his time as Frank Burnside during the earliest half-hour episodes of the programme.
[9] Despite initially being reluctant to publicise his diagnosis, Ellison and his wife hope that by sharing their experience with aphasia it will enable other people to develop an awareness and understanding of the condition.