Sometimes all you need in TV is a simple idea, and the one behind Death in Paradise is very straightforward. Having first aired on BBC One in 2011, it’s a regular cosy crime drama filmed in Guadeloupe and set on the gorgeous fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie – but with a detective who is a British (or Irish) man abroad. A standard whodunnit in escapist packaging, it is still running, having easily survived the problem of regularly having to replace the main character with a new inspector because the main actor has tired of working away from home. One of those former leads, Kris Marshall, now heads up a new series that shows how big Death in Paradise is: it has a spinoff, Beyond Paradise, a case-of-the-week sleuther set back here in Blighty.
In other words, it’s Death in Paradise without the number-one thing people like about Death in Paradise – although historically Marshall must be somewhere close to second place. Ralf Little may have just equalled his record as the show’s longest-serving detective, and Ben Miller originated the role, but if you close your eyes, centre your breathing and try to imagine Death in Paradise – feel the sand beneath your feet, hear the faint creaking of the storylines – it’s probably Marshall’s stringy, strawberry-topped misfit DI Humphrey Goodman who appears.
