The gods of TV spin-offs are fickle creatures. Joey must exist for every Frasier. Baywatch Nights for every Better Call Saul. Beyond Paradise is a winner, which is great news for Death In Paradise fans. It chronicles the relationship of DI Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall) and café owner Martha Lloyd (Sally Bretton) after he proposed to her in series six on the fictitious murder-filled Caribbean island of Saint Marie.
The crime-solving, romance, and comedy programme has moved to Devon and the fictional village of Shipton Abbott, but the sun is still shining and the DNA that made its mothership show such a ratings success is still present.
‘The puzzles are very “south-westerly”,’ says Marshall, who knows the area well having once owned a self-catering business up the road from Looe, where the series is filmed.
‘The crimes are uniquely of that area. The first episode has this haunted puzzle. We’ve got a family that just disappears off the face of the earth, an art theft which is like a caper, a man who is seemingly abducted by aliens found dead in the middle of a crop circle and an arsonist who is obsessed with the story of the Three Little Pigs.’ Yup, sounds like a night out in Plymouth.
There’s a lot going on between Humphrey and Martha. A 4,100-mile stretch of land and water no longer stands in the way of pure love. Instead, they find themselves crowded into the spare room of Martha’s mother Anne’s little home, almost too close for comfort, and having to deal with the kind of awkward returns to the nest that many may recall from lockdown.
‘It’s an interesting dynamic,’ says Bretton, no stranger to comedy after starring with Lee Mack in Not Going Out. ‘It’s small and you’re back home in the back bedroom.
‘There is that feeling of your grown-up self and your child self all in the same place at the same time. That’s difficult to navigate. They are keen to support Anne and to set up this dream of Martha’s [running her own café] where she grew up, so she wants to be there but nearby, not in the house. They are feeling crowded but also very grateful. It’s all of it.’
One of the high points of the opening episode is a Sunday lunch shared by Anne (Barbara Flynn), Martha, Humphrey and Anne’s slightly incontinent mother played by a scene-stealing Anne Lester. It was as hilarious to film as it is to watch.
‘Anne was only there for that one scene,’ says Marshall, ‘but I found it hard to get through. It was the way she says, “Thank you!” after she’s passed wind. To me it was just genius. There is also a wonderful look that Barbara does during the scene. If you looked up the hashtag #FML it would have a picture of that look.’
On a more sombre note, this season features the final television appearance of Ruth Madoc, Hi-de-beloved Hi’s Gladys Pugh, who died last December at the age of 79 following surgery for a fall.
‘I grew up watching Hi-de-Hi with my family when I was young,’ says Marshall.
‘We used to light a fire and toast crumpets watching it, which does sound a bit twee but it’s true. Ruth’s relationship with the actor Simon Cadell was so integral to that show. It’s a tragedy what happened but she is wonderful in this.’
Beyond Paradise starts on BBC One and is available on iPlayer on Friday
Source My Celebrity Life.