IT AIN’T HALF HOT...

Our Mark with Ardal at police station set in Deshaies On screen it may look like the perfect place to film but the extreme temperatures and storms cause havoc.

Ardal says: “It takes a little bit of getting used to.

You don’t quite know what to expect from one day to the next weather-wise, but you know it’s going to be very, very hot.

“It’s a minimum of 30 degrees day and night but the humidity often makes it feel like 40.

“You’re always a little bit clammy. And then you’ve got the mozzies and things like that, you know, and they do really love me.

“They gorge on me, you know. But you get used to it.”

Storms often stop filming for days, and the heat can be almost unbearable at midday, so filming can start as early as 6am.

The cast keep chamois leathers soaked in buckets of ice on set to put around their necks between takes. The costume department give

On location in Guadeloupe

them spare sets of clothes so they can change midway through the day and not look drenched in sweat.

Things are no better for the crew. Executive producer Tim Key says: “There is a lot of nudity and stripping. It’s an odd show to be part of. People are very reserved and British when they arrive here.

“But very soon they are wandering around topless.”