If you enjoy Death in Paradise but aren’t keen on foreign travel (maybe it’s the food, I don’t know) we have some excellent news for you. The BBC has flipped the script to bring us Beyond Paradise, which is streaming on Foxtel Now and BINGE right this very second.
Now having clocked up a staggering 12 seasons, Death in Paradise follows the often-comedic adventures of a succession of UK cops who find themselves assigned to the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie, a British Overseas Territory with historical French roots. From the third to sixth seasons the main character was detective Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall), up until he decided to head back to the UK with his girlfriend, Marth Lloyd (Sally Bretton).
What happened next? Well, as it turns out, the couple decamped to Martha’s hometown of Shipton Abbott in Devon, where Humphrey takes a job in the local constabulary, and before you can say “the crime rate in small, picturesque English towns seems unusually high” he’s up to his neck in murder and mystery—presumably solving the crimes that Doc Martin misses.
Beyond Paradise is a case-of-the-week show, a format that recent success Poker Face amply demonstrates that audiences have a yen for. It also sports an impressive supporting cast: Zahra Ahmadi (Eastenders), Dylan Llewellyn (Derry Girls), Felicity Montagu (Alan Partridge), and ubiquitous veteran Barbara Flynn are all in the mix, plus sci-fi fans will recognise Jamie Bamber, formerly of Battlestar Galactica, as Archie Hughes, Martha’s business partner and former fiancé.
The question is whether audiences will happily trade the sun-soaked vistas of Death in Paradise for the more familiar but no less appealing charms of coastal Devon. Bbut Kris Marshall’s oddball charisma and the cosy familiarity of the format will definitely hit the spot for fans of the genre.
