The enduringly popular Caribbean detective series reaches a landmark episode this weekend.
As well as kicking off Series 13, the show also enjoys a shift to a higher profile Sunday night slot on BBC One. In anticipation, its stars have spoken about the show…
Don Warrington, who plays Police Commissioner Selwyn Patterson, considers his character who celebrates 50 years in the force during episode 100:
“He loves his job. I think when you love what you do, you tend to be quite good at it. Although he can be quite tough with people, he also cares about them. He cares about each member of his team, even Neville, who irritates him! But nevertheless, there are moments of tenderness between him and Neville because if you strip away all Neville’s issues, Selwyn is very concerned about people’s humanity. It’s an interesting combination in terms of being a policeman because if we look at the reality of it, you see some horrible things and it’s how you attain a degree of humanity and I think he does, and that’s what makes him sustainable.”
He also reflects on Selwyn’s relationships with the different Inspectors:
“I remember moments with all of the inspectors we’ve had. I remember moments with Ben, I particularly liked it when I shouted at him… And I liked the moments with Kris where there was a kind of tolerance of him.
“I remember Ardal because they formed a sort of philosophical relationship which I thought was gentle and thought-provoking, involving two people who were happy to reveal bits of themselves to each other when they were away from work, and that was nice. Neville, I remember moments because he’s, on one level, such an irritant to Selwyn, but he also finds him incredible. How can anybody malfunction as much as Neville does? For all his brilliance, you just think “What?!” So yes, they’ve all got their place.”
Élizabeth Bourgine, plays local café owner and St. Marie Mayor Catherine Bordey. She reflects on the show’s enduring popularity:
“Death in Paradise is for me like a game because people get a challenge. There is a murder, but there’s no violence, there’s no blood. The challenge is to find out who did it, why, when, and how? It’s a nice game and it’s set in an idyllic setting. Life in Death in Paradise is what we would love life to be like. Also, the characters are so wonderful, so different, it’s like a big family.
“When people come to see me as Catherine, they say, “Oh, I would love to have a mother like you”, “I would like to have a grandmother like you”. Or what they say now is, “I would like to grow old like you do”. I think people always find a character they want to be, or they love to follow.”
She also recalls her favourite moment:
“I love the chicken soup moment with Richard Poole because it was a contrast of the English Detective Inspector and the local woman wanting to do her best, being strong, doing things her way and achieving it! They have conflict but it’s humorous, it’s fun and they respect each other. I think we wanted to show a woman dancing, speaking frankly, being happy, and that moment was like a base.”
The current Detective Inspector is Neville Parker. In post since 2020, Ralf Little reflects on his time:
“Episode sixty nine was my first as DI Neville Parker, which is (almost) 7/10ths of the way to one hundred. So, the bulk of it was already there. But the idea that I’d be able to do another thirty one episodes on top of that to reach one hundred is astonishing. If I’m really honest, I was just hoping to get to the end of the first series and for everybody not to hate it. Everything after that was a bonus!
“At the risk of sounding like a footballer going, “It’s all about the team”, these personal milestones are lovely to reach and they’re incredibly satisfying. But it is all about the show, the people loving it and everyone working together. For me to have been here and be lucky enough to lead a stellar cast and be trusted with this legacy is something I can’t believe. I thank my lucky stars every day and feel like I’ve won the lottery.”
He also talks about the upcoming cases in Series 13:
“We’ve got a cryptocurrency case which was an interesting one. The writers really do keep trying to find these new settings, stories, weird things and what reflects the modern world. The show has a slightly vintage feel but it’s also very modern. Looking into crypto hacking was great, someone gets electrocuted because they’re stealing power.
“I thought it was like the doomsday preppers episode from last year. There’s no reason why we wouldn’t have doomsday preppers in the valley. It’s not quite Doctor Who where you can literally do anything, but they sort of have the leeway to go, “let’s use our imaginations and see what might be in the world and then set it in what a Caribbean version would look like”. I think that’s great and this year, the writers have outdone themselves.”
Death in Paradise returns to BBC One on Sunday 4th February at 9 PM.
Also, the entire back catalogue of Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.