Trivia / Death in Paradise

• Actor Leaves, Character Dies: After Ben Miller decided to leave, he was killed off in the first episode of season 3. As is usual for the victim on this show, he didn't even survive the Cold Opening.
• Actor-Shared Background:
  • Richard Poole unveils a telescope that he named "Lucy", revealing to Camille that he has always had a keen interest in astronomy. Ben Miller was completing his PhD in solid-state physics when he veered into stand-up comedy and acting, and has authored books on rocket science and astrophysics.
  • Dwayne's actor Danny John-Jules is actually an avid motorcyclist. Originally, the bike was only supposed to be in the first episode, but the BBC brass loved it.
• California Doubling: Guadeloupe for the fictional Saint Marie. Saint Marie is said to have formerly been French before being traded to Britain, explaining the mixed population (and actors).
• The Danza: A stealthy version in "Death of a Detective": Helen Baxendale plays Sasha Moore, a woman who's eventually to be revealed as Sasha's sister Helen.
• Divorced Installment: The first three episodes are all based on ideas creator Robert Thorogood originally submitted to Midsomer Murders.
• Filming Location Cameo: Part of the Series 10 Christmas Special takes place on Guadaloupe, which is where the show is shot.
• Milestone Celebration: Series 10 was broadcast in the show's 10th anniversary year, and featured the return of Joséphine Jobert as a series regular, plus guest appearances from Sara Martins and Ben Miller, and the show's first Christmas Episode, which was a 90-minute special.
• Multiple Languages, Same Voice Actor: Sara Martins, Joséphine Jobert, and Aude Legastelois all dub themselves for the French-language broadcasts.
• The Other Darrin: JP's girlfriend and eventual wife Rosie was originally played by Fola Evans-Akingbola; after four years spent entirely off screen, she returned in Series 10 now played by Prisca Bakare, Tobi Bakare's real life spouse.
• Playing Against Type: All four main detectives were largely associated with comedies beforehand. While the show still characterises them all with a bit of whimsy, they play the detective genre with genuine straight-faced drama:
  • Ben Miller is primarily known for comedy, in particular The Worst Week of My Life and The Armstrong and Miller Show, but here plays a more dramatic role. He has a bit of previous experience as James Lester, who he played in Primeval.
  • Kris Marshall was best known for My Family and minor subplots in Love Actually and Death at a Funeral.
  • Ardal O'Hanlon finally got to move away from being known as the Cloud Cuckoolander Father Dougal McGuire by playing the lead in a semi-serious mystery drama.
  • Ralf Little was best known for The Royle Family and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.
    • Little is also a semi-professional footballer; Parker is tall and trim, but it's hard to imagine his character on a sports pitch.
• Playing with Character Type: Ardal O'Hanlon made his career playing cheerful, outgoing but dim-witted nice guys who commonly struggle to have a grasp of the situation and instead fixate on the irrelevant details, most famously Father Dougal. Jack Mooney follows many of the same beats, being an easy-going, warm, friendly, and extroverted individual, except for the fact that he’s also a highly intelligent and skilled detective. His habit of focusing on seemingly irrelevant details is him picking up on an obscure clue that is often key to cracking the case. Similarly, his seeming absentmindedness and obliviousness during interrogations is a front to catch suspects off guard. He even commonly goes into random tangents or pretends to need reminding of the matter in hand in manners reminiscent of his previous characters, only to hit them with a genuine hard-hitting question the moment they feel at ease.
• Real-Life Relative:
  • JP's girlfriend and eventual wife Rosie was originally played by Fola Evans-Akingbola; after four years spent entirely off screen, she returned in Series 10 now played by Prisca Bakare, Tobi Bakare's real-life spouse;
  • Both of Danny John-Jules' children have appeared in the show. In Series 5's "Dishing Up Murder", the young thief Jackson is played by his son, Dante Langlais-John-Jules. In Series 7's "Murder on the Day of the Dead", Elize Johnson, Dwayne's putative niece (the niece of his girlfriend Darlene) is played by his daughter, Danae Langlais-John-Jules.
• Real Song Theme Tune: An instrumental cover of the 1964 ska song "You're Wondering Now" by Andy & Joey; in France, the song is used for the end titles while the opening titles have Finley Quaye's "Sunday Shining".
• Recast as a Regular:
  • Ralf Little guest-starred in Series 2's "A Dash of Sunshine" before returning to star in Series 9.
  • The victim in "Murder on the Day of the Dead", Daisy Anderson, is played by Zahra Ahmadi, who became a regular on the spinoff series Beyond Paradise (2023).
• Recycled Script: After a few seasons, the same mysteries start again with new characters.
  • Both "An Unhelpful Aid" and "Dishing Up Murder" involve the victim's brother disguising himself with a bandana to fake the time of death.
  • Both "Music of Murder" and "Swimming in Murder" involve a temperamental singer being murdered by his co-songwriter to ensure the profitability of the band's reunion.
  • Both "Predicting Murder" and "The Healer" involve a terminally ill victim killing themselves in order to frame someone they believe previously got away with murder.
• Troubled Production: The tenth series was one of the very first TV series to start production again after the first lockdowns of the COVID-19 Pandemic; although they successfully finished filming without incident, several episodes were still being edited in the same week they were due to be broadcast owing to the tighter-than-usual schedule.
• Vacation, Dear Boy:
  • Many actors appear on the show because it gives them a chance to visit the Caribbean (series 3 guest star Tristan Gemmill described it as "winning the lottery for actors").
  • Joe Absolom said that he actually ended up going broke while shooting an episode because he brought along his family to enjoy a tropical get away. He says he doesn't mind because he had a great time.
• You Look Familiar: Ralf Little had already guest-starred in Series 2's "A Dash of Sunshine" before being cast as D.I Neville Parker in Series 9. This was actually pointed out by the hosts of The One Show when Ralf did an interview to promote the then-upcoming series 9.

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