Radio Times | TV news and guide, TV and radio listings, film reviews guide SEARCH Why Guadeloupe is the perfect setting for Death in Paradise "Everywhere you look there are bright primary colours - deep blues, greens, yellows, reds - all year round. It's nature turned up to 11" By Vincent Graff Tuesday 29 January 2013 at 3:02PM Some things you can fake, some you cannot. Anyone watching Death in Paradise, BBC1’s crime drama set in the West Indies, can be in no doubt that it’s the real Caribbean. “You couldn’t make this at Pinewood,” says the show’s star, Ben Miller, who plays Detective Inspector Richard Poole. “Everything I’ve done before has been filmed in Salford,” he chuckles. Death in Paradise deals with life on the fictional island of Saint-Marie, but the show was filmed over a period of five months in Deshaies on the northwest corner of Guadeloupe. You can see why the TV company chose the location: Guadeloupe is shockingly vivid. Everywhere you look there are bright primary colours – deep blues, greens, yellows, reds – all year round.

It’s nature turned up to 11. Chuck in some charming old buildings and it all adds up to the perfect setting for the drama. Adding to the flavour of the island is the fact that it is French-owned. More than a mere colony, Guadeloupe is officially part of France proper. The currency is the euro, the supermarkets are Carrefour and everyone speaks French. Nonetheless, the ubiquitous palm trees and the twinkling, deep blue sea are thoroughly Caribbean and, after dark, the chorus of tree frogs is a sure sign you’re deep in the tropics. Given that this is officially part of the European Union, life can be delightfully haphazard. Out on my travels one morning, I see two cows pulling a load down a main street – and it’s not unusual to see old men standing by the side of the road holding dead fish by their tails, offering them to passing motorists through open car windows. You don’t often see that in Paris or London. That’s nothing, says Miller.

“Last year, after a tropical rainstorm, I saw a chicken floating down the street...” BBC's Death In Paradise to visit London for two episodes | Media | The Guardian BBC's Death In Paradise to visit London for two episodes The hugely popular detective comedy drama will move from fictional Saint Marie as part of complex investigation Josephine Jobert and Kris Marshall, stars of Death in Paradise. Photograph: Denis Guyenon/BBC/Red Planet Pictures/Denis Guyenon Wednesday 22 June 2016 01.01 EDT Last modified on Wednesday 22 June 2016 07.55 EDT Close This article is 7 months old Its sun-dappled tropical setting is one of the factors behind its staggering success. But BBC1’s hit drama, Death in Paradise, will – for two episodes at least – leave behind its fictional Caribbean home in its new series in exchange for the distinctly colder climes of London. It will be a return home for maladroit detective Humphrey Goodman, played by Kris Marshall, a fish out of water on the fictional paradise island of Saint Marie.

Death in Paradise is one of the BBC’s most popular dramas, watched last year by a consolidated audience of 8 million viewers. It initially starred Ben Miller as detective Richard Poole, who was replaced by Marshall’s Goodman at the beginning of series three. What is the secret to Death in Paradise's success? Read more Its charms may be lost on some critics – “How on earth does this get so many viewers?” the Guardian once asked – but it is one of a select band of hit returnable dramas that manage to hang onto their audience. Two episodes of the new series – the sixth – will be filmed in London, part of a two-part special featuring the show’s most-complex murder yet. The new series will feature a host of guest stars including Natasha Little, Ardal O’Hanlon, Douglas Hodge, Monica Dolan and Fiona Allen. Not Going Out star Sally Bretton will also return to the show as Martha Lloyd, a series regular. Executive producer Tim Key said: “We are very excited to be bringing Death In Paradise to London for the very first time.

“Humphrey has always been a fish out of water in Saint Marie, adjusting to the island’s ways and customs, but for the scenes set in London, the roles are reversed as he is back in his hometown, giving an opportunity to explore the characters that viewers know and love against a new backdrop.” BBC commissioning editor and executive producer, Elizabeth Kilgarriff, said: “Death In Paradise provides the perfect combination of drama, comedy and sun to warm viewers over the cold winter months.” The series is made by Tony Jordan’s Red Planet Pictures. Death in Paradise: BBC One Crime Drama Set in the Caribbean – Repeating Islands October 19, 2011 Death in Paradise: BBC One Crime Drama Set in the Caribbean Ben Miller, Sara Martins and Danny John-Jules star in Death in Paradise, an eight-part crime drama due to start on BBC One on Tuesday 25 October 2011. It is set on the fictitious island of Saint-Marie, as Steve Rogerson reports.

When a traditional English policeman – Detective Inspector Richard Poole (played by Ben Miller) – finds himself assigned to the Caribbean island of Saint-Marie, the expectation is that he has the posting of a lifetime, but he hates it, hates every minute of it. That is the setting for Death in Paradise, a new eight-part crime drama due to start on BBC One on Tuesday 25 October 2011. Poole does not like the sun and the sand, he hates the sea and he is not over keen on the Caribbean style of policing. But he tries to get into the swing of things when a British cop is murdered and he is the investigator in charge helped by local police officers Camile Bordey (played by Sara Martins) and Dwayne Myers (played by Danny John-Jules). Writer Robert Thorogood got the idea for the show when a British policeman was sent out to head up a murder enquiry during the Caribbean Cricket World Cup. “I imagined an uptight and by-the-book London copper trying to solve a murder in the sweltering heat of the Tropics,” he said in the BBC press release. “There was a series in this.

I was sure of it.” But Thorogood in those days did not have any writing credits to his name and it took him a long time before he convinced the BBC to go with the show, and he only did that with the help of Tony Jordan from Red Planet Pictures. “When I got into the room with Tony Jordan, I pitched Death In Paradise to him, and he loved it,” said Thorogood. “And with Tony now championing the idea, the BBC commissioned a script from me and – to cut a very long story short – the series was eventually greenlit two years later.” Actors in Death in Paradise Ben Miller is well known these days as James Lester in Primeval and Howard Steel in The Worst Week of My Life, but his career dates back to the early 1990s with appearances on the likes of Paul Merton: The Series and French and Saunders. He also became a regular on Armstrong and Miller on Channel Four from 1997 to 2001, the forerunner of the BBC’s The Armstrong and Miller Show, which is still running today. More recently, he was Martin Logan in The Book Group, Stewart James in Doc Martin, the priest in Popetown and Jonathan Pope in Moving Wallpaper.

He also appeared as himself in the first episode of Episodes. French actress Sara Martins had a number of one-off and film roles before her first recurring TV role as Estelle in CID from 2006 to 2007. She went on to play Jeanne in Merci, Les Enfants Vont Bien!, Sophie Devailly in Les Tricheurs, Fleur in Pigalle, la Nuit and Hélène in Signature. Danny John-Jules is best known for his portrayal of Cat in the science-fiction comedy Red Dwarf. Other roles include Barrington in Maid Marian and her Merry Men, Byron Lucifer in The Tomorrow People, Ed in The Crouches and Lenny Bicknall in MI High. Death in Paradise also stars Gary Carr as Fidel Best, Lenora Crichlow as Lily Thomson and Don Warrington as Selwyn Patterson. Team Behind Death in Paradise Filmed on location in Guadeloupe, Death in Paradise was written by Robert Thorogood, produced by Red Planet Pictures and Atlantique Productions in association with BBC Worldwide and Kudos Film & Television for BBC One and France Télévisions.

Commissioned by Ben Stephenson, controller of BBC drama commissioning, and Danny Cohen, controller of BBC One, the show has as its executive producers Tony Jordan for Red Planet Pictures and Polly Hill at the BBC. For the original report go to #ixzz1bBhNH66k Share this: death in paradise_tv series - 必应 Death in Paradise Synopsis British detective Richard Poole (Ben Miller) is assigned to investigate a murder on the fictional paradise island of Saint Marie in the Caribbean. After he successfully finds the murderer, he is reluctantly required by his supervisors to stay on as the detective inspector (DI) of the island, solving new cases as they appear. At the start of Series 3, Poole is killed, and maladroit London detective Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall) arrives to investigate the death of his strait-laced predecessor. He then stays in the job as chief investigator on the island. The British detectives work alongside the local Saint Marie police team to track down murderers. Death in Paradise Format The show is known for its formulaic approach to the plot; each episode is 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, and often preliminary investigations and interviews take place to establish the suspects. Photographs of the suspects and crime scene are placed on the whiteboard at police headquarters. As the episode develops, more inquiries take place concerning the suspects, including background and financial checks. 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 all gathered together, and the DI talks through the evidence; often, flashbacks are used to show what happened. The murderer and the motive are revealed in the denouement of the episode. Normally, each episode ends with a comedic scene or a celebratory trip by the police force to Catherine's bar.

The final episode of each season 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. The plot very rarely strays from this general structure, which has now become synonymous with the show. However, it has not always been praised, with some critics believing that it restricts the show too much.[citation needed] Saint Marie Main article: Saint Marie (fictional island) 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" and "one-tenth the size of its north-west neighbour Guadeloupe"; this would make Saint Marie about 62 square miles in size. The location and name of the island suggest that it is based on the real-world island of Marie-Galante, which has a matching size and location, although the real-life Marie-Galante is part of Guadeloupe and not independent of it.

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. Honoré, the main town, has a leisure/commercial marina, market, bars, and restaurants as well as the police station. (Interestingly the 1989 BBC adaptation of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple book A Caribbean Mystery was set on the fictional island of St. Honoré.) The island is a British Overseas Territory, but about 30 percent of its people are of French culture, with the language still widely spoken. Its main economic ties are to Guadeloupe, the UK, and France. The island's main religions are Catholicism and Vodou, with several Vodou religious festivals.

Death in Paradise Production The series has been filmed on the French island of Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles, mainly in the commune of Deshaies (which doubles for the fictional town of Honoré on the fictional island of Saint Marie), with the help of the Bureau d’accueil des tournages de la Région Guadeloupe. Ben Miller left the series at the start of series 3 as he believed he was spending too much time away from his family; his wife was unable to join him on the island during production. However, Kris Marshall's family join him on the island during the six-month shoots, and his daughter has enrolled at a local school. The site of the police station is filmed in a church hall. Viewing figures Regarding ratings, the series has gained popularity with every new series. The first series averaged around 5 million viewers, the second around 7 million, and the third and fourth around 8 million. Series 1 began with a premiere that received final viewing figures of just over 6 million, outperforming ITV’s celebrity reality series 71 Degrees North. The rest of the first series performed well, with 5-6 million viewers every episode.

Series 2 started with just over 8 million viewers and a 28.8% share of the audience for the 9-10 pm time slot. This was up by 1.3 million viewers, and 5% audience share, from the opening of the previous series and was, up to that time, the highest-rated episode of the drama on BBC television. Series 2 enjoyed consistently high ratings, with overnight figures for the first four episodes all passing the six-million figure and the fifth only slightly missing out with an overnight rating of 5.97, which was still the highest-rated broadcast programme for the time slot with an audience share of 25.8%. Series 3 began with 8.69 million, at that time the most-watched episode of the programme so far. The rest of the series was, on average, the most watched to date, with consolidated figures of over 8 million for every episode. Episode 5 later surpassed the viewing figures for the premiere, receiving a consolidated figure of 8.84 million. Series 4 premiered with an overnight rating of 6.9 million, the same as the premiere of series 2.

However, consolidated figures showed that it was in fact the most-watched episode of the programme to date, with 8.92 million tuning in, and it was the second most-watched programme of the week in the UK. Later the same series, episodes 4 & 7 both surpassed 7 million viewers in overnight figures, the first episodes to do so. Episode 7 also was the first episode to surpass 9 million in consolidated figures. However, figures for the finale took a significant downturn, receiving 8.31 million viewers; it lost 800,000 viewers from the previous episode, became the least-watched episode of the series and had fewer viewers than the previous series finale. Death in Paradise Broadcast In the UK, all series were shown on BBC One. The first series was broadcast in late 2011.

The second, third, fourth and fifth series were broadcast in early 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively; all series were shown in a 9-10pm slot.[d] Series 1 and 2 were broadcast in the San Francisco Bay Area on KQED Mystery Night in 2013. Series 1 aired in January and February 2013 and series 2 aired in April and May 2013. In the New England area, WGBX started airing Series 1 and 2 in 2013. In Australia, series 1 - 3 have been broadcast on ABC One a few months behind original broadcast in the UK. Generally this was shown in a 7.30pm Saturday timeslot. In Canada, all series have been broadcast on BBC Canada, Thursdays at 9pm. The last 2 seasons have been shown about a month after the BBC One showing. Theme music The theme music is an instrumental version of a Jamaican song from the 1960s, "You're Wondering Now", written by Coxsone Dodd, originally recorded by Andy & Joey in Jamaica.

It was later made famous by The Skatalites and in Europe by ska band The Specials and later still by Amy Winehouse as featured on some editions of the deluxe version of her album Back to Black. In the first episode of the third series, the cover version recorded by The Skatalites in 1994 is played at the bar. It appeared on the official Death in Paradise soundtrack, released in January 2015, alongside other music from all 4 series. In the French version, the opening song is "Sunday Shining" by Finley Quaye ("As the morning gathers a rainbow, I want you to know y'all, That I'm a rainbow with you.") Death in Paradise Notes ^ Sara Martins only appeared briefly at the very end of Episode 1.06 due to an injury - her absence was explained on screen - her character, Camille, was away on a course in Paris. Therefore, she was still credited as a main character in the episode. ^ Morven Christie appeared in a voice-only role in episode 3.1; she only physically appeared in episode 3.8.

^ James Fox featured in a voice-only role in episode 4.7; he only physically appeared in episode 4.8. He was not credited for appearance in episode 4.7. ^ Series 4, episode 7 was shown in an earlier timeslot of 8.25pm-9.25pm due to Eastenders Live 30th anniversary celebrations. Death in Paradise References ^ "Death in Paradise series three confirmed". Radio Times. Retrieved 12 February 2013. ^ Plunkett, John (27 February 2014). "David Walliams to star as BBC bags Agatha Christie drama deal". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 October 2014. ^ "BBC One - Death in Paradise". Bbc.co.uk. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015. ^ "About Series 1 | Death in Paradise | Alibi Channel". Alibi.uktv.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2015. ^ ^ ^ "Meurtre au paradis. L’industrie du cinéma teste la Guadeloupe - Abonnement".

Guadeloupe.franceantilles.fr. 16 September 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2015. ^ "Death in Paradise launches with nearly 6 million viewers". ATVtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 11 January 2012. ^ "Top 30 Programmes". BARB. 3 February 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2013. ^ Plunkett, John (9 January 2013). "Death in Paradise returns with nearly 7 million viewers". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 12 February 2013. ^ "Tuesday Ratings: Death in Paradise Continues To Perform For BBC One". ATV Today. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2013. ^ "Top 10 Programmes". BARB. 15 March 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015. ^ "Death in Paradise, episode one, review". Telegraph. Retrieved 30 March 2015. ^ "Death in Paradise, series 4, episode 2, review".

Telegraph. Retrieved 30 March 2015. ^ "Red Planet Pictures". Retrieved 27 February 2015. ^ "Death in Paradise – Series 1 (DVD)". BBCShop.com. Retrieved 21 May 2012. ^ "Death in Paradise: Season 1: Ben Miller, Sara Martins, Danny John-Jules, Various: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 30 March 2015. ^ "Death in Paradise: Season 2: Ben Miller, Sara Martins, Danny John-Jules, Gary Carr, Elizabeth Bourgine, Various: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 30 March 2015. ^ "Death in Paradise: Season 3 (DVD): Various: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 30 March 2015. ^ "Death in Paradise - Series 4 [DVD] : Amazon.co.uk: Kris Marshall: DVD & Blu-ray". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2015. ^ "Death In Paradise | KQED Public Media for Northern CA". Kqed.org.

Retrieved 30 March 2015. ^ "A Meditation on Murder (An original Death in Paradise story): Amazon.co.uk: Robert Thorogood: 8601410743390: Books". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2015. ^ Coates, Jon (30 January 2015). "Book reviews: January's crime and detective fiction investigated | Books | Entertainment | Daily Express". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2015. All ratings are sourced from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB). Death in Paradise: Ben Miller on investigating the deadliest place on the planet | Radio Times Death in Paradise: Ben Miller on investigating the deadliest place on the planet DI Poole's island idyll has a dark side - both on screen and in real life... Comments Vincent Graff 12:34 PM, 08 January 2013 He’s swapped a grey life on the streets of London for the desert-island beaches of the Caribbean, yet Detective Inspector Richard Poole always manages to look gloomy.

And that is, of course, one of the pleasures of Death in Paradise, which returns to BBC1 this week. There’s a certain amusement in watching Ben Miller’s fish-out-of- water investigator – drafted in, against his will, as the top cop on a tiny island thousands of miles from home – struggling to retain his British stiff upper lip under the palm trees. Here’s a man, you feel, who’d rather spend his days in the gloom of Inspector Morse’s Oxford than in a place where the pesky blue ocean twinkles so brightly that it hurts your eyes. As a result, Poole doesn’t make any concessions to his new workplace: it may be 40 ̊C in the shade but Miller is forced to wear a grey woollen suit every moment he’s on set. Not a great idea – last year filming of series one had to be halted temporarily after the actor suffered heatstroke. This time around, there are precautions in place. When RT flies out to visit Miller on set, there’s a sneaky picnic-style freezer box tucked away on the beach, behind the cameras. The handwritten note on top says: “Ben’s Cold Vest”.

Inside is a piece of clothing that looks like a life jacket but is fitted out with ice packs. Miller pops it on whenever there’s a pause in filming. While the cameras are rolling Miller continues cheating: his suit looks like wool, but isn’t. The shirt beneath has a hole where the back should be – and, whenever Miller’s feet are out of shot, he ditches his black leather brogues and pads around in bare feet, his trousers rolled up to the knee. Well, it’s not supposed to be a documentary. Although, as Miller tells me, he met a former Metropolitan Police officer who, like Poole, was seconded to the Caribbean, who told him: “We have to wear our suits because we’re representing the Crown. Suit, tie, collar, the whole thing. We hate it.” Death in Paradise is set on the fictional island of Saint-Marie, supposedly a British dependency in the Caribbean. In reality, the show is filmed on the French-owned island of Guadeloupe.

When RT joins Miller in Deshaies, on the northwest tip of the island, he’s four-fifths of the way through the 20-week shoot and, despite his backless shirt, he’s sweltering like everyone else. Still, he has no complaints – aside from being separated from his partner, Jessica, and his baby son, Harrison. “I’ve flown home every two or three weeks for a few days. Luckily, so far I’ve been back for many of his milestones, such as when he sat up for the first time. And Jess saved weaning him to solid foods for when I was there. Any day now Harrison could crawl. I’m sitting here thinking: please don’t let him crawl until I’m home at the weekend!” Actors cast as TV policemen usually end up filming car chases in the back streets of Manchester. “I’m probably the only person in the history of British television to film a cop show in the Caribbean,” he grins. “Quite incredible.” He’s not wrong. Guadeloupe is breathtakingly gorgeous. As you drive round this butterfly- shaped island your eyes are assaulted by striking primary colours – deep blue sea, yellow sand, red bougainvilleas.

The leaves on the palm trees are such a luminous green it’s as if they’ve been plugged in at the mains. This is mother nature brought to you in association with Technicolor. There’s also something endearingly odd about the place. Four thousand miles from Paris, Guadeloupe is as technically integral to France as the Dordogne – it is no Falklands-style colonial outpost but a fully paid-up French département, and sends deputies to Paris’s National Assembly. Yet despite being part of the European Union – the currency here is the euro – Guadeloupe also has a dusty, old-world charm; it’s not odd to see chickens wandering down the street. Everyone speaks French and there are Carrefour supermarkets in the towns. And, get this, Guadeloupe boasts the world’s highest per-capita champagne consumption. What about crime? How does life in Saint-Marie compare to Guadeloupe? Miller smiles. “Saint-Marie has an incredibly high murder rate, doesn’t it?” He’s right – every week, there’s at least one murder victim to confront DI Poole, often two. That’d make perhaps 70 murders over a year – “and what’s the population of Saint- Marie?

Maybe 10,000.” And Guadeloupe? “Well, it’s one of the friendliest, safest places you could possibly go. It feels like there’s no crime around here whatsoever.” I decide to find out more. I make an appointment to meet police commander Roland Trochet – the top murder cop on the island. Before I see him, I glance at the website of Guadeloupe’s newspaper, France-Antilles. Sure, there are nasty tales – name me a local paper in the democratic world that doesn’t feast on crime – but there’s also a charming provincial feel: one day the lead story is about a man who’s been arrested for failing to produce his driving licence. At first glance, Trochet has little in common with his fictional counterpart. He’s not wearing a suit but heavy stubble and a rumpled blue T-shirt. Sitting behind his desk in a sparse office in Guadeloupe’s largest town, Pointe-à-Pitre, he tells me: “People don’t have a realistic idea of the work we do here. Their picture of us is going to work under the palm trees. “Last year was calm. There were 33 murders and 27 murder attempts.

There are only 400,000 inhabitants in Guadeloupe so in terms of murders per capita, the death rate is higher than in Paris.” If you want to get statistical, Trochet’s figures reveal a murder rate of around 8.2 per 100,000 inhabitants. Though this makes Guadeloupe one of the safest islands in the Caribbean – Jamaica has a rate of more than 50 murders per 100,000, according to official figures from the United Nations – its murder rate is roughly on a par with that of Los Angeles; meanwhile, the rate here in the UK is 1.2 murders per 100,000. Saint-Marie, on the other hand, has an annualised murder rate of 700 per 100,000 – making it far and away the deadliest place on the planet. This is despite a 100 per cent clear- up rate, courtesy of DI Poole and his three colleagues – and without the use of any 21st-century forensic science. And Guadeloupe? Trochet says, “We don’t have the same resources as metropolitan France, of course.

We have to send all our samples to Paris for analysis. But in a really urgent case, we can have the results by telephone in two or three days.” But the people who get caught up in violence are involved in the drugs trade or are victims of domestic disputes. “There’s no random crime here: you won’t be killed just for strolling the streets, as you might in some places.” France- Antilles editor André-Jean Vidal confirms: “There’s not a lot of everyday crime here.” As Miller says, this island feels safe. Last year, he found himself filming in a beautiful villa in a neighbouring town. “I got talking to the owner, and she explained that she didn’t sleep inside the house but in a hammock in the garden. I asked: ‘Is that safe?’ She replied: ‘Well, there is one burglar. But everybody knows him. And when he comes I just give him chocolate.’” BBC - Sun-soaked smash Death In Paradise to film in UK for first time - Media Centre Enquiries Sun-soaked smash Death In Paradise to film in UK for first time Death In Paradise provides the perfect combination of drama, comedy and sun to warm viewers over the cold winter months.

The show continues to attract a wealth of great talent to join the cast and we are delighted to announce these new guest stars for the sixth series.Elizabeth Kilgarriff, BBC Executive Producer Date: 22.06.2016 Last updated: 22.06.2016 at 09.30 Category: BBC One ; Drama ; Casting Host of acting talent to guest star in new series With filming under way on the sixth series of BBC One and Red Planet Pictures’ hit crime drama Death In Paradise, it has today been announced that the upcoming series will feature two episodes with scenes set and filmed in London. The hotly-anticipated new series will also see Not Going Out star Sally Bretton reprise her role as love interest Martha Lloyd, and a host of British talent join the cast as guest stars throughout the run. Set on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie and filmed in Guadeloupe, the sixth series of the successful winter warmer will see the Honoré Police team head to London for the first time to solve one of the island’s most complex murder cases in an unprecedented two-part special.

Discussing the London-based episodes, executive producer of Death In Paradise, Tim Key, says: “We are very excited to be bringing Death In Paradise to London for the very first time. Humphrey has always been a fish out of water in Saint Marie, adjusting to the island’s ways and customs, but for the scenes set in London, the roles are reversed as he is back in his hometown, giving an opportunity to explore the characters that viewers know and love against a new backdrop.” The new series also marks the return of Sally Bretton as a new series regular, Martha Lloyd, following her guest appearance in the final episode of series five. Joining Kris Marshall, Danny John-Jules, Don Warrington, Josephine Jobert and Tobi Bakare on Saint Marie, her character will become a prominent part of the new series and, as sparks continue to fly between her and DI Goodman, could love possibly be in the Caribbean air? Commenting on her role in the series, Sally Bretton says: “I am delighted that I have been given the chance to reprise my role as Martha, and join the incredible Death In Paradise cast and crew again.

My character is a joy to play and I can’t wait for the viewers to see how her story unfolds.” Other names announced to feature in the upcoming series include Ardal O’Hanlon (Father Ted, After Hours), Douglas Hodge (The Night Manager), Natasha Little (Thirteen), Adrian Rawlins (Dickensian), Monica Dolan (W1A), Ramon Tikaram (Happy Valley), Emily Taaffee (War And Peace), Gary Beadle (Eastenders), Fiona Allen (Waterloo Road), Kerry Fox (Glue), Kemi-Bo Jacobs (Thirteen) and Mark Powley (Birds Of A Feather). With the latest series pulling in an average consolidated figure of 8.1 million viewers, Death In Paradise has cemented its position as one of BBC One’s highest-rating and most popular dramas over the past five series. The brand new eight-part series sees the return of Saint Marie’s crime-fighting police team, headed up by DI Humphrey Goodman (Marshall), alongside DS Florence Cassell (Jobert), Office Dwayne Myers (John-Jules) and Officer JP Hooper (Bakare).

The upcoming series will follow the team as they use their expert skills of deduction to solve more mysterious and mind-boggling murders that occur on the idyllic island. Discussing the new series, Elizabeth Kilgarriff, BBC Commissioning Editor and Executive Producer, says: “Death In Paradise provides the perfect combination of drama, comedy and sun to warm viewers over the cold winter months. The show continues to attract a wealth of great talent to join the cast, and we are delighted to announce these new guest stars for the sixth series.” Death In Paradise is a Red Planet Pictures production in association with BBC Worldwide, produced with the support of the region of Guadeloupe. It is created by Robert Thorogood, produced by Sue Howells and executive produced by Tony Jordan and Tim Key for Red Planet Pictures, and Elizabeth Kilgarriff for the BBC. The new series will air in 2017.

For further information please contact: Katy Mason, Premier: katy.mason@premiercomms.com Actor Ben Miller on dramatic exit from BBC's Death In Paradise | TV & Radio | Showbiz & TV | Daily Express 00:01, Sat, Jan 11, 2014 Ben Miller as Death In Paradise detective, Richard Poole [BBC] It’s got to be right up there with the best jobs in acting – jetting off for six months to film on a sun-drenched Caribbean island. Not only that, but it just happens to be for one of the highest-rated shows on the BBC. So when it was announced last spring that Ben Miller had quit his starring role in crime comedy drama Death In Paradise, filmed on tropical Guadalupe, many fans were left scratching their heads in disbelief. What could have prompted him to leave one of the cushiest jobs in showbiz? Ben, 47, explains that it was love for his family that made the decision inevitable. “I had just begun work on the first series of Death In Paradise when my wife Jessica discovered she was pregnant,” he says.

“Our son, Harrison, was born just after I finished filming, but when I went back out for the second series, I didn’t see much of him at all. It was hard, and I just didn’t feel like I could do that again. My Family star Kris Marshall joins series regular Sara Martins in Guadalupe [BBC] I didn’t see much of my son at all. It was hard and I didn’t feel like I could do that again Ben Miller “My elder son, [seven-year-old] Sonny, was at nursery at the time, but now he’s started school so he couldn’t come out either. It just wasn’t going to work. That said, I’m very sorry to be leaving.” The actor, who portrays Richard Poole, a grumpy English detective inspector on the fictional island Saint-Marie, has another surprise up his sleeve for fans. In true Death In Paradise fashion, his character is set to be bumped off in a major whodunnit plot in the first episode. While the exact details of the murder – and culprit – are being kept under wraps, the first episode will see a host of stars making a guest appearance as suspects, most notably Cold Feet and Cuckoo actress Helen Baxendale.

Heading up the murder investigation is the bright, but rather disorganised and gawky DI Humphrey Goodman (played by My Family and Lightfields star Kris Marshall), fresh off a plane from London. “I’m thrilled,” says Kris, 40, who will join series regulars Sara Martins (Camille), Danny John-Jules (Dwayne) and Gary Carr (Fidel) as the show’s new lead detective. “Six months filming on a tropical island with an amazing cast and glorious sunshine? What isn’t there to love?” Thankfully for Kris, his family (wife Hannah Dodkins and his baby son, Thomas) were able to make the move out to Guadalupe to be with him for the entire duration of filming, making the transition easier. However, he does admit to feeling apprehensive about the public’s reaction to such a major cast change. “It is a risk,” says Kris. “Ben has done such a fantastic job. I know some people are not going to be happy; there’s no two ways about it. But I just hope that the majority of people are.” Ben says he’s confident that Kris will be a worthy successor.

In fact, far from offering him any pearls of wisdom, he reveals Kris slotted seamlessly into the cast – leaving him to enjoy the perks of being a guest star. “Guesting on Death In Paradise is probably one of the best jobs in TV. We always find that there’s one person every series who comes out and then never goes home,” he laughs. Related articles TV pick of the day: Supersize vs Superskinny “While poor Kris was slogging his guts out, I ambled off and did a tour of the island, sipped a few pina coladas and put in some serious beach hours…” The actor and comedian, previously best known as one half of double act Armstrong and Miller with Alexander Armstrong, says there are many things he’ll miss about the series, not least the fantastic people he’s worked with. But he’s hoping it won’t be the last we’ve seen of him in Death In Paradise. “Perhaps, once my kids are a little older and Kris has worked on his tan for long enough, I could return to the show.

“I’m not sure how yet, but I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Richard’s long lost twin brother making an appearance…” Death In Paradise, Tuesday, 9pm, BBC1 Most read in TV & Radio Death In Paradise's Ben Miller says filming in the Caribbean isn't quite the dream | Daily Mail Online comments Ben Miller can be forgiven if his thoughts are elsewhere. While filming in temperatures of over 100°F on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, he's heard his baby son Harrison has been taken to hospital suffering an asthma attack 4,000 miles away in London. Compounding the discomfort is the buttoned-up suit, tie and shiny brogues his eccentric, very English character, Detective Inspector Richard Poole in the BBC1 comedy drama Death In Paradise, insists on wearing despite the climate. 'My partner Jessica [TV producer Jessica Parker] had to rush Harrison to hospital and I've just heard they're back home now,' he says later when the day's filming is over, more relaxed in a white linen shirt, trousers and flip-flops. 'He's fine and they've got to keep an eye on him.

That side of things is really difficult, being so isolated from the family.' Programme Name: Death in Paradise - TX: n/a - Episode: n/a (No. 1) - Embargoed for publication until: n/a - Picture Shows: DI Richard Poole (BEN MILLER) - (C) BBC/Red Planet Pictures - Photographer: Philip Volkers Back in the summer, Ben, 46, tried bringing the whole family out to the neighbouring island of Antigua, but it didn't work out. 'Jess brought Harrison and my six-year-old son Sonny. Poor Harrison has only just started sleeping at home and we brought him out with a four-hour time difference and it didn't really work. 'He hated the flight, he hated the heat. It's very tough on babies. We didn't get any sleep because Harrison didn't sleep. We were absolutely washed out.' Ultimately, it's proved easier for Miller to fly back and forth on a 14-hour journey via Paris. 'I pop back every couple of weeks.

Even if I go back for a couple of days, it's still worth it.' RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share Miller made his name in the late 90s as one half of the surreal comedy partnership Armstrong & Miller with best friend and fellow Cambridge University graduate Alexander Armstrong. But in Death In Paradise he plays it straight, almost - the repressed Englishman abroad who's funny because he's so set in his ways. Ben Miller with Sara Martin in Death In Paradise During filming, mostly in the picturesque town of Deshaies, Miller's had to develop a way of keeping cool. In the first season he wore backless shirts, but finding his back stuck to the suit lining he abandoned the practice. Thankfully his suits are now bespoke in a light fabric. 'You learn to take the heat seriously. If you're English you think, “Oh, I feel a bit hot” and you just carry on. That's when you run the risk of getting heat stroke. I only got it once last year.

I had heat exhaustion a number of times, where you get very light-headed, dizzy and sick, but I've not had any problems this year.' DI Poole was seconded by Scotland Yard to the fictional island of Saint-Marie, a British colony, in the first series to solve a murder and ordered to stay. Eagle-eyed viewers will spot that the vehicles have French number plates. That's because the real five islands of Guadeloupe are a French department. Death In Paradise is the first major TV show to be shot there, giving it a chance to show off its credentials as a holiday paradise. Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller in BBC1's The Armstrong & Miller Show The temperature between DI Poole and his glamorous sidekick DI Camille Bordey (played by French actress Sara Martins) heats up in the second series too. 'My character definitely has an eye for the ladies,' says Miller, 'but I don't think he has the confidence or belief in himself. He's tremendously awkward. I think he's given up on relationships. I imagine he's been hurt at some point.' In real life Miller had no such problems. He dated Rachel Weisz in the 80s when they were both at Cambridge.

'Rachel was probably the most beautiful girl in the world, still is. I was punching above my weight and have been ever since. I'm prepared to try to talk to a very beautiful girl. I learned a fantastic secret, which is that the most beautiful woman in the room is not being spoken to because she's too intimidating. They're not looking for somebody beautiful, they're looking for somebody to amuse them.' He learned about courage and self-belief at Cambridge, something he didn't possess when he arrived from a Cheshire comprehensive. Audiences from Mexico to Holland enjoy Ben Miller's depiction of an Englishman sweating in the sun 'I was only one of two people from a comprehensive in my year. I didn't come from a difficult background but I did feel like a fish out of water. It's about the fact that you don't know the shorthand of how that world operates.' His earlier self is a useful reference point for his portrayal of Poole, who's hemmed in by his own self-consciousness and inhibitions. 'He uses his Englishness as an armour. The suits are about him needing to feel some kind of barrier between him and the world.

I take my jacket off a few times in the new series, which is quite exciting. He's loosening up a bit. It's really a story about a man who has no friends. It's not really about the murders for me. It's about a man who finally finds a place he fits in.' With filming of the second series complete he's enjoying doing nothing for a few months and spending time with the family. DI Poole looks like he's going to be around for some time and Miller may have to continue suffering for his art and juggling family life Audiences from Mexico to Holland enjoy his depiction of an Englishman sweating in the sun. 'The world goes to bed happy at night knowing there's an Englishman suffering for being English,' he says. Death In Paradise, Tuesday, 9pm, BBC1. For information on visiting Guadeloupe visit and

Question: What is the name of the fictional island that provides the setting for Death in Paradise?
Answer: Saint Marie