Beyond Paradise

**Beyond Paradise** is a British crime comedy-drama created by **Robert Thorogood**. The show is filmed in Devon. The series focuses on a Detective Inspector and his police team solving murder mysteries in the town of **Shipton Abbott**.

## Main Cast

* Kris Marshall as Detective Inspector Humphrey Goodman
* Sally Bretton as Martha Lloyd; Humphrey's fiancé
* Zahra Ahmadi as Detective Sergeant Esther Williams
* Dylan Llewellyn as Police Constable Kelby Hartford
* Felicity Montagu as Officer Worker Margo Martins
* Barbara Flynn as Anne Lloyd; Martha's mother
* Jamie Bamber as Archie Hughes; Martha's business partner and ex-fiancé

## Synopsis

The show follows Detective Inspector **Humphrey Goodman**, who left Saint Marie to be with **Martha Lloyd**. After becoming engaged, the couple move to Martha's hometown of Shipton Abbott, near the Devon coast. Not long after arriving, Humphrey joins the local police force, where he quickly makes an impression on the local officers: Detective Sergeant **Esther Williams**, PC **Kelby Hartford** and office support worker **Margo Martins**, bringing a whole new approach to police work.

## Casting

**Kris Marshall** was one of the most popular detectives to feature on Death in Paradise and the producers knew he resonated with audiences around the world. The producers felt audiences wanted to know what happened to Humphrey and Martha. **Sally Bretton** also reprised her role from Death in Paradise.

**Zahra Ahmadi** and **Barbara Flynn** had both previously appeared in episodes of Death in Paradise playing different characters.

### How it came to be

According to writer and executive producer **Tony Jordan**, it was the return of **Kris Marshall** that inspired the series. He said: *“It’s a lot to do with Kris. He’s an amazing actor.”*

Speaking about the cast as a whole, he continued: *“Those great actors have something: whatever the story is, you want to be sat in the room with them. If they’re on screen in a bar, you want to be in that bar and if they’re in conversation, you want to be a part of that conversation too. You’re drawn to them, and Kris has that in abundance.”*

Tony added: *“Humphrey has this unerring zest for life, people are drawn to that positive energy. He was always a special character, so why not go back and see what he’s up to?”*

Fellow executive producer **Tim Key** also praised Kris’ performance, saying it was the reason they expanded the Death in Paradise series. He explained: *“The answer came in the form of **Kris Marshall**’s character **DI Humphrey Goodman**.*

*“When Kris left Death in Paradise, we knew we wanted to do more with him. Then when **Sally Bretton** joined the show as his love interest **Martha Lloyd**, we could just see the amazing chemistry they had together.*

*“They have continued to professionally bump into each other over the years and have coincidentally worked together between Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise. There’s some serendipity in the world that kept leading them to work together and we just knew we could do something special with them both.”*

## Location

The series is set in the fictional town of **Shipton Abbott**, South Devon. A number of locations were considered, but the producers settled on the West Country as they felt that Devon hadn’t been used very often in TV drama. They decided to film in the Cornish town of Looe because it had a thriving community with fishing businesses. The fictional town is set slightly back from the coast so different storylines could be developed.

## Trivia

* Whilst set in the English county of Devon, not one of the regular actors is from Devon and are reported to have based their accents on the film Hot Fuzz! (2007)
* Whilst the series is set in a fictional Devon town, the filming took place mostly in Cornwall, with Looe and Launceston featuring the most.
* Series 1, Episode 2 was actress Ruth Madoc's final role before her death. A dedication card appears in the end credits.
* Zahra Ahmadi previously appeared in a guest role on Series 7 of Death in Paradise before being cast as Esther Williams on Beyond Paradise.
* Barbara Flynn previously appeared in a guest role on Series 9 of Death in Paradise before being cast as Anne Lloyd on Beyond Paradise.