Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Kris Marshall is back on the case in the whodunit spin-off, ‘Beyond Parad ise’
IN HIS over three-decade career, Kris Marshall has bagged an impressive array of film and television work.
But his roles in My Family and Death in Paradise, as well as its spin-off, Beyond Paradise are the ones that stand out for fans.
With Marshall back in the second season of the latter show, where he reprises his role as DI Humphrey Goodman, whodunit aficionados are over the moon.
In the first season of the spin-off series, Humphrey followed Martha Lloyd (Sally Bretton) to Shipton Abbott, near the Devon coast. He left behind the island life in Saint Marie, taking a leap of faith for love.
But the engaged couple weathered a few storms, including a temporary split, which was compounded by Martha’s desire to become a mother.
That said, Humphrey made an indelible impression on the local team of Detective Sergeant Esther Williams (Zahra Ahmadi), PC Kelby Hartford (Dylan Llewellyn) and office support worker Margo Martins (Felicity Montagu), and quickly made himself at home in the new town.
As for where we find him at the start of this season, Marshall said: “We find him in a pretty good space. After the ups and downs of series one and the challenges he and Martha had to face – including moving home, breaking off their engagement, Martha meeting old flames – these issues have now been resolved.
“I think they’ve rediscovered their humour and their sense of fun with each other. Humphrey is back at work and eager to get back to sleuthing and solving the weird and quirky crimes that present themselves in bucolic rural Devon.”
In the previous season, Martha’s fertility concerns placed an immense amount of pressure on the relationship.
Marshall with the shared: “After dealing emotional challenges
involved with IVF, they’ve come full circle and re-found their zest for each other. They’ve come to terms with the fact they can’t conceive a child and it’s made them stronger.
“There’s a lightness to them which they may have lost during their early time in Shipton Abbott. The main thing is that they’re happy.”
On the positive reception of the show, with viewers religiously tuning in, Marshall noted: “I think it has an amazing foundation as it is part of the
Death in Paradise universe, a franchise with a very strong following that is loved by audiences all over the world.
“I’m extremely lucky that Humphrey was one of the show’s most popular characters. We had already had a head start from the fans, but I also hope we’ve brought on board our own fans.
“I hope people who haven’t watched Death in Paradise enjoy tuning in because Beyond Paradise is a unique and original show. It shares the same DNA, but it has its own identity.
“We’ve also got a really hot production team who know exactly what they’re doing and a brilliant writer and creator, Tony Jordan, who has created a show that has the South-West at its core. I think it encompasses the charm, the music and the wildness of the area.
“So, I think it is all those elements which make it so successful, and, ‘Thank God!’, is what I say and, ‘Long may it last’.”
On what viewers can expect in this season, he said: “We’ve got a murder on a steam train, the story of a local fishing legend who goes missing from a trawler at sea, a schoolteacher who goes missing in a fog on a beach, a lady who is shot in the back with a bow and arrow, and an arsonist predicted by a medium.
“The team have their hands full in this series.”
Interestingly, Humphrey and Martha are exploring the possibility of adoption.
He shared: “They’re fun and they have so much love and emotional support to give to a foster child because of the journey they’ve been on with IVF. There’s a slight madness to them as a couple, they’re quirky. They are close, and they’ve always got a lot going on, which I reckon kids can get on board with.
“And, of course, he’s a policeman and she has her own business, so they’re both responsible and I think that’s what makes good parents.”
No different to the original series, politics adds pressure on the team. This time, it comes from Chief Superintendent Charlie Woods (Jade Harrison) at Police HQ.
Marshall shared: “As a small fishing village police station house, they are under the same constraints as many other branches where people feel the world has moved on and everything can be done via computer and CCTV.
“So they’re under those pressures, which I find amazing because they have a 100% success rate when it comes to solving crimes.
“But CS Woods is a strong, incredibly driven character, which is why she is Humphrey’s boss and the head of the whole division. There’s a ruthlessness to her that poses a challenge to the quirky little station house.
“It’s a David and Goliath story, which everyone loves and, in this case, David’s an extremely efficient station house that has its own unique way of working.”
Quirky characters and intriguing cases make this whodunit one not to be missed.