Death in Paradise (TV series)
Death in Paradise is a British-French crime drama television series created by Robert Thorogood, starring Ben Miller, Kris Marshall, Ardal O'Hanlon and Ralf Little. The programme is a joint UK and French production. The French-language version is . The programme is filmed on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe and broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom, France 2 in France, PBS in the United States and Australia's ABC. Death in Paradise has enjoyed high ratings, leading to repeated renewals. An eighth series was broadcast from 10 January 2019 to 28 February 2019. It was announced the same day that a ninth and a tenth series had been commissioned. Filming for series nine started in May 2019. O'Hanlon left the show in October 2019, during the filming of series nine, which started broadcasting on 9 January 2020 and ended on 27 February 2020.
Synopsis
British detective Richard Poole is assigned to investigate the murder of a British police officer on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie. After he successfully finds the murderer, he is ordered by his supervisors to replace the victim and stay on as the head detective inspector of the island, solving new cases as they appear and being the object of many fish-out-of-water jokes.At the start of Series 3, Poole is murdered, and clumsy London detective Humphrey Goodman arrives to investigate the death of his deadpan predecessor. He then stays in the job as chief investigator on the island. In the second half of Series 6, he resigns so he can start a new life in London with his girlfriend Martha Lloyd. His replacement on Saint Marie is DI Jack Mooney, a recent widower grieving the loss of his wife. Mooney remains on the island until mid-way through Series 9, when he concludes that he has simply been running away from his real life after his wife's death and decides to return to London with his daughter. His replacement is DI Neville Parker, who dislikes being on the island and has severe allergies, especially with mosquito bites. Many of the stories are variations on the locked-room mystery along with a closed circle of suspects.
Episodes
Format
While Death in Paradise has continued to be in the top three most popular programmes on British television, critics have called the crime drama "unremarkable" and "an undemanding detective show, with nice Caribbean scenery."The show is known for its formulaic approach to its plots with each episode roughly the same in both style and narrative structure. Each episode begins with a pre-credits sequence showing the events leading up to a murder and often the discovery of the body afterwards; this sequence also serves to introduce that particular episode's guest characters. The Police force of Saint Marie are subsequently informed of the murder, preliminary investigations and interviews take place to establish the suspects, and photographs of the suspects and crime scene are placed on the whiteboard at Police Headquarters.
Often towards the end, the lead DI will have a moment of realisation, perhaps brought on by something that someone says or does or by some occurrence. In this moment, the how, why and who of the murder are comprehended by the DI, but are not revealed to the audience. The suspects are then gathered and the DI talks through the evidence; often, flashbacks are used to show what happened. The murderer and the motive are revealed in the dénouement of the episode. Gathering the suspects, going through the events and finally identifying the murderer is based on the technique Agatha Christie uses in the Miss Marple stories.
Normally, each episode ends with a comedic scene or a celebratory trip by the Police officers to Catherine's bar. The final episode of most series has included a subplot wherein the lead DI is tempted to return to the UK by the prospect of a job offer or personal relationship, but in the end, he decides to remain on the island.
This format was subverted in the sixth series, when the two-part storyline in the fifth and sixth episodes saw the team travel to London to follow up on a current case, resulting in Goodman deciding to remain to be with his new girlfriend, Martha; Mooney travelled back to Saint-Marie, initially as a holiday to help escape the memory of his recently-deceased wife, but decided to remain as the new detective inspector of the island. This format was also subverted in the ninth series; Mooney decided to return to Britain mid-way through the series as he felt that he was ready to face the memory of his dead wife, with the new inspector initially coming to the island just to sign off on a particular body but kept for a few weeks for health reasons before he decides to remain to face a new challenge.
Setting
Saint Marie
Death in Paradise is set on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie, described in Episode 3.3 as a "pretty island" that is "situated in the Eastern Caribbean Sea." In episode 4.5, it is mentioned that Martinique is "a good 70 miles." Saint Marie is "one-tenth the size of its north-west neighbour Guadeloupe"; this would make Saint Marie about in size. Saint Marie is a British Overseas Territory, but about 30% of its people are French, due to previous history, with the language still widely spoken.The back-story appears to be a blend of two real-world islands near to Guadeloupe, with size and location aligning with Marie-Galante and history and language aligning with Dominica. In the TV show, the fictional Saint Marie island has a volcano, rainforest, sugar plantations, a fishing harbour, an airport, a university, a convent, approximately 100 public beaches and a Crown Court. It also has its own newspaper, The Saint Marie Times, and a radio station, Radio Saint Marie.
Honoré, the name of the main town, is a reference to St Honoré, the setting of A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie. The town has a leisure/commercial marina, market, bars and restaurants as well as the police station. The neighbouring town to Honoré is named as Port Royal. Saint Marie's main economic ties are to Guadeloupe, the UK and France. The island's main religions are Catholicism and Voodoo, with several religious festivals featuring in the programme, including the Saint Ursula Festival and some Voodoo festivals.
Other locations
Episode 3.7 is largely set on an islet just off Saint Marie; it is privately owned and relatively small. This episode was actually filmed on the island of Kahouanne, around off the north-west coast of Guadeloupe where the series is normally filmed. It can often be seen in the background from a beach on Saint Marie. Episodes 6.5 and 6.6 are largely set in London, when Goodman, Cassell and Officer Myers form a liaison team with Mooney in order to track down suspects in a murder investigation in Saint Marie and later to investigate the murder of one of the suspects.Characters
Main
Recurring
Made a voice cameo in this episode.Danny John-Jules, the longest-tenured actor in the series other than Don Warrington and Elizabeth Bourgine, did not return for series eight and was replaced by Shyko Amos, who plays Commissioner Selwyn Patterson's niece, Ruby. John-Jules cited his reason for exiting the show as wanting to "leave on a high."
Production
The series is filmed on the French island of Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles, mainly in the commune of Deshaies, with the help of the Bureau d’accueil des tournages de la Région Guadeloupe. The site of the Honoré police station is a church hall in Deshaies, with the priest's office appearing as the incident room.Miller left the series at the start of series 3, as he felt he was spending too much time away from his family, since his wife was unable to join him on the island during production. Marshall's family joined him on the island during his first three six-month shoots and his son, Thomas, enrolled at a local school. When his family did not join him during the filming of the sixth series, following the birth of his baby daughter, Elsie, it left him feeling "bereft and empty" and he quit the show.
From episode 7 of the sixth series, the lead role was taken by Ardal O'Hanlon playing DI Jack Mooney, a London colleague. Joséphine Jobert left the series after episode 6 of the eighth series and was replaced by actress Aude Legastelois, who plays Madeleine Dumas. Jobert cited her reason for exiting the show as wanting to "focus on other projects."
In July 2020, the BBC announced the departure of Shyko Amos and Legastelois, along with the return of Jobert and the arrival of newcomer Tahj Myles as Marlon Pryce.
Reception
Viewing figures
Death in Paradise has gained in popularity over time on British TV.Series 1 has been the least-watched to date, averaging 5.89 million viewers, with the 5.3 million viewers for the sixth episode, "An Unhelpful Aid," being the lowest the show has had. Each episode was among the top five most-watched programmes of the day and in the top 40 of the week.
Series 2 averaged 7.67 million viewers, with each episode among the top two most-watched programmes of the day and in the top 15 of the week.
Series 3 averaged 8.46 million viewers, with each episode among the top two most-watched programmes of the day and in the top ten of the week.
Series 4 averaged 9.03 million viewers. Based on consolidated figures, each episode was among the top three most-watched programmes of the day and in the top ten of the week.
Series 5 averaged 8.67 million viewers. Based on consolidated figures, each episode was the most-watched programme of the day and in the top four of the week.
Series 6 has been the most-watched so far, averaging 9.1 million viewers. The series premiere, "Erupting in Murder," is the most-watched episode of the show to date with 9.81 million viewers. Based on consolidated figures, each episode of Series 6 was the most-watched programme of the day and in the top four of the week.
Series 7 averaged 8.34 million viewers. Based on consolidated figures, each episode was the most-watched programme of the day and in the top ten of the week.
Series 8 averaged 8.2 million viewers. Based on consolidated figures, each episode was the most-watched programme of the day and in the top seven of the week.
Series 9 averaged 8.14 million viewers. Based on consolidated figures, each episode was the most-watched programme of the day and in the top six of the week.
Critical response
The series has received mixed reviews from critics, with most criticism directed towards its formulaic structure. The first series was praised for its refreshing style and setting. Kris Marshall's introduction at the start of series 3 was particularly well received, with Rebecca Smith of The Daily Telegraph citing Marshall as a "winning addition" to the cast. The series 4 premiere was described as "a little piece of escapism" and was generally praised. Mark Monahan of The Daily Telegraph criticised the laid-back tone of the series, calling it too methodical with nothing unique about it besides the setting.Awards
Red Planet Pictures was nominated for, and won, the "Diversity in a Drama Production Award" for Death In Paradise. Sara Martins, Danny John-Jules, Don Warrington and Tobi Bakare collected the award at a ceremony supported by the BBC and ITV that took place on 15 February 2015.Broadcast
In the UK, all series are shown on BBC One. The first series was broadcast in late 2011. The second series was broadcast in January 2013, with subsequent series filling the same January slot; all series were shown in a 9:00–10:00 pm slot.In France the programme is broadcast on France 2 and France Ô.
Death in Paradise is broadcast in 236 territories. The series is available to stream, as of May 2020, on Britbox
Home media
| Series | Region 2 | Region 1 | Region 4 | Discs | Extras |
| 1 | 8 October 2012 | 17 June 2014 | 2 August 2012 | 2 | |
| 2 | 4 March 2013 | 16 September 2014 | 3 July 2013 | 3 | |
| 3 | 10 March 2014 | 5 May 2015 | 25 May 2014 | 3 | The Making of Death in Paradise on disc three. Seven short insights into the making of Death in Paradise. |
| 4 | 2 March 2015 | 5 July 2016 | 18 March 2015 | 3 | |
| 5 | 29 February 2016 | 13 December 2016 | 16 March 2016 | 3 | The Making Of Death In Paradise Creating The Puzzle Harry The Lizard Tour Of Honoré Police Station The Vehicles |
| 1-5 | 29 February 2016 | 16 March 2016 | 14 | same extras that were on series 3 and 5 | |
| 6 | 27 February 2017 | 12 December 2017 | 29 March 2017 | 3 | |
| 1-6 | 29 March 2017 | 17 | same extras that were on series 3 and 5 | ||
| 7 | 26 February 2018 | December 2018 | 14 March 2018 | 3 | |
| 1-7 | 14 March 2018 | 20 | |||
| 8 | 4 March 2019 | 10 December 2019 | 3 April 2019 | 3 | |
| 1-8 | 2019 | TBA | TBA | 23 | |
| 9 | 2 March 2020 | 2020 | TBA | 3 |