We return to the island of Saint-Marie for a fourth season of BBC One’s lighthearted crime comedy drama.
Tonight’s opener takes a distinctly supernatural tone, centering around the murder of local businessman Elias Thompson (James Wilby) who is killed at a séance during the island’s Voodoo Festival of the Dead.
Death in Paradise has always drawn parallels with Jonathan Creek and it’s never more obvious than here, with DI Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall) and DS Camille Bordey (Sara Martins) approaching the case like a sort of comical Mulder and Scully.
The pairing of Marshall and Martins is a winning formula for the show, retaining the same culture clash elements that she shared with previous lead actor Ben Miller, but with the added romantic subplot to propel their relationship in a different direction.
It’s a more believable move with Marshall than it would have been with Miller, both due to age and chemistry, and it’s a credit to the show’s producers that they established the Humphrey character so well in last year’s third season before introducing this subplot, which is made much more obvious here.
The main murder plot, brilliantly directed by Richard Signy, is a tightly written and structured affair. Everyone appears to have a justifiable motive and the script allows the actors involved enough screentime and development of their own, whilst weaving in elements that help to piece together and reveal the murderer to the viewers. While many may have guessed the real killer by the episode’s end, a superb third act twist that ties in with the ‘Mama Beth’ ghost story and the supernatural elements are both interesting and surprising.
As always, the show attracts a great guest cast (we can’t imagine why stars are so easily persuaded) and this opening episode is no exception with Royce Pierreson (2014’s Murdered By My Boyfriend), Natalie Gumede (most recently seen in Doctor Who’s ‘Last Christmas’) and Don Gilet, but there is also a shake-up in the main cast.
Departing cast member Gary Carr, who played Sgt Fidel Best since the first season, is now replaced by actress Josephine Jobert (of French TV drama Cut!) and this change will no doubt put the cat amongst the pigeons if her introduction to Dwayne (Danny John-Jules) is anything to go by.
Death in Paradise continues to entertain with its fish-out-of-water comedy, just the right amount of red-herrings and an endearing and believable set of characters. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Guadeloupe, which doubles for Saint-Marie, the show is tonally different from any other crime drama on TV at the moment. This week’s opener capitalises on these elements to great effect.
Aired at 9pm on Thursday 8 January 2015 on BBC One.
> Buy the Season 1-2 boxset on Amazon.
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