After four hugely successful years – made up of thirty-six episodes and three feature-length festive specials (as well as a cameo in spin-off show Beyond Paradise), making him the longest serving Detective Inspector – Ralf Little has left his post as DI Neville Parker on the BBC and Red Planet Pictures’ Caribbean crime-drama, Death in Paradise. At the end of tonight’s series finale, Neville sailed off into the sunset with DS Florence Cassell, played by Josephine Jobert, after their tumultuous ‘will they, wont they’ storyline reached its emotional conclusion.
The dramatic ending brings a close to another series full of surprising and shocking twists and turns, including the shooting of Commissioner Selwyn Patterson (Don Warrington) in the 100th episode, Officer Marlon Pryce (Tahj Miles) bidding farewell to the island, and the welcome return of some other familiar faces – Camille Bordey (Sara Martins), JP Hooper (Tobi Bakare) and Dwayne Myers (Danny John-Jules). A star-studded raft of guests also joined the regular cast, including Academy Award winner Hayley Mills, Pearce Quigley, Ronni Ancona, Genesis Lynea, Richard Fleeshman, Shvorne Marks, Kate Robbins, Taj Atwal and more.
Neville joined the Saint Marie police team in 2020, taking over from DI Jack Mooney (Ardal O’Hanlon). His four-year tenure as Detective Inspector saw him face many ups and downs, overcome his allergies, aversions to the sun, and even an attempt to frame him for murder to become Saint Marie’s longest serving sleuth. New lead casting for Death in Paradise will be announced in due course.
Tim Key, Executive Producer for Red Planet Pictures, said: “Joining a successful show like Death in Paradise as the lead is a daunting and risky prospect, but Ralf’s confidence and talent shone through from day one and the audience response to Neville and his journey has been amazing. I can’t thank Ralf enough for everything he has brought to the show, on and off screen, and wish him all the very best for the future.”
Death in Paradise will return later this year for a fourth feature-length Christmas special, followed by a new series in 2025, again offering the perfect cocktail of sun-soaked escapism, shimmering seas and bright blue skies. The Caribbean sun-soaked detective drama enters its fourteenth year with its much-loved combination of magnificent murder mysteries, mindboggling puzzles and plot twists which leave audiences guessing and on the edge of their seats.
Licensed to over 230 territories across the globe, Death in Paradise is much loved by audiences worldwide often proving to be the best performing drama on its respective channel in each region. It was recently announced that following the successful launch of spin-off series Beyond Paradise last year, the Death in Paradise franchise has built on its international success and is hitting Australian shores with an original, home-grown spin-off series, Return to Paradise. Coming to ABC in Australia in 2024 and the BBC in the UK, Return to Paradise combines the DNA of the original global smash hit murder mystery series, with a new, unique Australian take.
Death in Paradise is a Red Planet Pictures production for the BBC made with the support of the region of Guadeloupe and internationally distributed by BBC Studios. The feature length episode and series 13 were executive produced by Tim Key and Ceri Meyrick for Red Planet Pictures and Danielle Scott-Haughton for BBC and produced by Joanna Hanley. All series of Death in Paradise are currently available on BBC iPlayer.
SJP