''Beyond Paradise'' is a British

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

television series that first aired on 24 February 2023. It is a

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

of the long-running crime series ''

Death in Paradise ''Death in Paradise'' is a crime drama, crime television series created by Robert Thorogood, starring Ben Miller (Series 1–3), Kris Marshall (Series 3–6), Ardal O'Hanlon (Series 6–9), Ralf Little (Series 9–13) and Don Gilet (2024 Speci ...

'' and stars Kris Marshall and

Sally Bretton Sally Davis (born 23 April 1980), known professionally as Sally Bretton, is an English actress. She is best known for appearing as Lucy Adams in the long-running BBC television sitcom ''Not Going Out'' since 2007, and as Martha Lloyd in the BBC ...

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 Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

coast. Not long after arriving, Humphrey joins the small 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 who, along with stories featuring local aspects including (fictional) local sinister superstitions, bring a whole new approach to police work.

Cast

Main characters

* Kris Marshall as Detective Inspector Humphrey Goodman *

as Martha Lloyd, Humphrey’s fiancée *

Zahra Ahmadi Zahra Ahmadi (; born 1982) is a British actress from Plymouth, England of Persian descent. She is best known for playing the original Shabnam Masood in ''EastEnders''. Career She is known for her role as Shabnam Masood in the British televis ...

as Detective Sergeant Esther Williams * Dylan Llewellyn as Constable Kelby Hartford *

Felicity Montagu Felicity Jane Montagu (born 12 September 1960) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Lynn Benfield, the long-suffering assistant of Alan Partridge. Early life Montagu was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire. She attended Lou ...

as Margo Martins, office support * Melina Sinadinou as Zoe Williams, Esther's daughter (series 3; recurring series 1-2) *

Jamie Bamber Jamie St John Bamber Griffith (born 1972/73), known professionally as Jamie Bamber, is a British actor, known for his roles as Lee Adama in ''Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series), Battlestar Galactica'' and Detective Sergeant Matt Devlin in t ...

as Archie Hughes, Martha's former business partner and ex-fiancé (series 3; recurring series 1) *

Barbara Flynn Barbara Joy Flynn (born 5 August 1948) is an English actress. She first came to prominence playing Freda Ashton in the ITV drama series ''A Family at War'' (1970–1972). She went on to play the milk woman in the BBC comedy ''Open All Hours'' ...

as Anne Lloyd, Martha's mother

Recurring characters

* Chris Jenks as Josh Woods, petty thief *

Eva Feiler Eva Feiler is a British stage, screen and voice actress. Early life She attended Redland High School for Girls in Bristol, followed by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where she won the Gold Medal for Drama in her final year. ...

as Lucy, Josh Woods' fiancée * Jade Harrison as Chief Superintendent Charlotte “Charlie” Woods *

Peter Davison Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor. He made his television acting debut in 1975 and became famous in 1978 as Tristan Farnon in the BBC's television adaptation of Jame ...

as Peter/Richard Baxter, Anne's internet date (series 2) * Amalia Vitale as Hannah Owen, fostering care case worker

Crossover characters from ''Death in Paradise''

Don Warrington Don Warrington MBE (born Don Williams, 23 May 1951) is a Trinidadian-born British actor. He is best known for playing Philip Smith in the ITV sitcom '' Rising Damp'' (1974–78), and Commissioner Selwyn Patterson in the BBC detective series ' ...

as Commissioner Selwyn Patterson * Élizabeth Bourgine as Catherine Bordey *

Ralf Little Ralf Alastair John Little (born 8 February 1980) is an English actor, writer, presenter, narrator and former semi-professional Association football, footballer. He has worked mainly in television comedy, including playing Antony Royle in ''The ...

as Detective Inspector Neville Parker * Shantol Jackson as Detective Sergeant Naomi Thomas *

Tahj Miles Tahj Di Nero Miles is an English actor. He appeared in ''Mangrove'', the first film of the anthology series '' Small Axe'' directed by Steve McQueen, and between 2021 and 2024, he starred as Marlon Pryce in BBC1's TV series '' Death in Paradise ...

as Officer Marlon Pryce

Production

Commissioning

''Beyond Paradise'' is a

of the long-running crime series ''

''. The first series premiered on 24 February 2023. On 8 April 2023, the series was renewed for a second series and a Christmas special. On 26 April 2024, another Christmas special and a third series were commissioned.

Casting

The detective played by Kris Marshall is one of the most popular to have featured on ''Death in Paradise'', and the producers knew that he resonated with audiences around the world. They felt as if audiences would want 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.

Location

The series is set in the fictional coastal town of Shipton Abbott,

South Devon South Devon is the southern part of Devon, England. Because Devon has its major population centres on its two coasts, the county is divided informally into North Devon and South Devon.For exampleNorth DevonanSouth Devonnews sites. In a narrower s ...

. A number of locations were considered, but the producers settled on the

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

as they felt that Devon had not been used very often in TV drama. They decided to film in the Cornish

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Looe Looe (; , ) is a coastal town and civil parish in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, with a population of 5,280 at the 2011 census. Looe is west of Plymouth and south of Liskeard, divided in two by the River Looe, East Looe () a ...

because it has a thriving community with fishing businesses. The fictional town is set slightly back from the coast so different storylines could be developed. The

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

's Portland Square and Nancy Astor buildings feature as the South West Police Headquarters. Anne Lloyd's house, the houseboat, and quay are located on the Pentillie Castle and Estate on the River Tamar north of Plymouth.

Episodes

Series 1 (2023)

Episodes 4–6 on BritBox in the US were shown a week earlier than they were in the UK.

Christmas Special (2023)

Series 2 (2024)

Christmas Special (2024)

Series 3 (2025)

Reception

Michael Hogan of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' gave it four stars out of five, proclaiming it "superior to its mothership show" and "Charming, cheerful and just gripping enough, it was the cosy crime treat we didn't know we needed." Jack Seale of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', conversely, awarded the first episode just two out of five stars.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Tony Jordan 2023 British television series debuts 2020s British crime drama television series 2020s British mystery television series British television spinoffs BBC crime drama television shows British English-language television shows Television shows set in Cornwall Television shows set in Devon