So farewell then DI Neville Parker. Last night’s episode of Death in Paradise saw Ralf Little’s character end his near five-year stint as the lead detective in BBC One’s globally popular cosy-crime hit – flying into the sunset with his love interest DS Florence Cassell (Joséphine Jobert). It was a classic romcom will they/won’t they denouement, and the ending of the 13th series reportedly had viewers “sobbing” and “in bits”.
Little is the longest serving of the four actors to have played the token UK police presence of the fictional island of Saint-Marie – his allergy-ridden Mancunian copper replaced Ardal O’Hanlon’s DI Jack Mooney in 2020; Ben Miller and Kris Marshall came before him.
Fans enjoyed watching Neville overcome anxieties about everything from mosquitoes to the sun and the sand, while gradually finding a purpose on the island. They loved his idiosyncrasies – particularly his habit of recording his findings on a cassette, which was double handy for viewers wanting a plot recap.
But the unfortunate state of Neville’s love life was becoming boring. Florence originally rebuffed his advances, series 12 girlfriend (Chelsea Edge) turned out to be attempting to frame him for murder, while more recently ex-girlfriend Zoe (Taj Atwal) turned up on Saint Marie to try and rekindle their relationship to no avail. Thank goodness Florence had a change of heart.
But there’s a reason why love stories usually end with a first kiss, and that’s because the will they/won’t they tension has vanished. Neville and Florence solving murders together between smooches? It wouldn’t have worked.
So Little’s departure is the right thing for the series – and probably for him, too. Swapping filming in sunny Guadelupe for, as Marshall put it after he left in 2017, “a 4am start in a car park in Dagenham” might seem absurd, but the long distance takes a toll on an actor’s relationships. Marshall wanted to spend more time with his young family; Miller (DI Richard Poole) similarly left the show in 2014 for personal reasons, having discovered that he was about to become a father.
O’Hanlon hinted that the heat was a factor for not returning to Guadeloupe. “It’s time to move on and explore other opportunities,” he said. “Preferably nearer the Arctic Circle.” Indeed, filming in this gorgeous-looking tropical paradise is no holiday, as executive producer Tim Key recently told me: “It’s a 5.30am start, working over weekends, and there’s no allowance made for the 40 heat.”
So, who will replace Ralf Little for the already commissioned Christmas special and series 14 when they go before the cameras this summer? The bookies’ current favourite is Simon Bird, the 39-year-old actor best known for Inbetweeners and Friday Night Dinner. This would tally with Death in Paradise’s habit of employing lead actors with a comedy background: while a genius at solving crime, Saint Marie’s British detective is usually a bumbling, ill-at-ease character with comic overtones – the role could fit Bird like a glove.
Diane Morgan (Motherland, Philomena Cunk) and Matthew Horne (Gavin and Stacey) are other actors who’ve been linked to the role, but given the show is in rude health it probably doesn’t even really matter who the lead is. The drama has now seen off four main characters and continued to thrive, it’s clear that they are not the real stars of Death in Paradise. It’s the tropical island setting, brightening up dark and gloomy post-Christmas Sunday evenings, and the team of local police officers who are surely the show’s main attractions.
In fact, I’d be sadder to see the back of Don Warrington, who’s played Commissioner Selwyn Patterson since the very start of the show in 2011, than any of the leads. Long may this wonderful grump remain to instil fear into the next British detective to be parachuted on to Saint Marie.