I was in Paradise after TikTok stunt but my co-star was furious!
Actor reveals how elasticated pants caused a scene when he ‘flipped the switch’ with Josephine Jobert as part of crazy challenge while filming new series on Caribbean island
crew had to have a test before they flew out. On set there was a Covid supervisor. Every day the actors’ temperature is checked and more tests are taken later in the day. There is no touching, lots of hand sanitiser and none of the usual off-screen bonding.
Ralf said: “It was a remarkable achievement to get the filming set up in the first place and getting everyone out here with regulations changing on a weekly basis.
“But we got used to the strangeness pretty quickly and just accepted it.”
Anyone who has followed Oldhamborn Ralf ’s career – from playing Antony in The Royle Family while he was still at Manchester University, to Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and the travel series with Ricky Tomlinson, Ricky & Ralf ’s Very Northern Road Trip – knows he likes a laugh.
And despite Covid and his character Neville Parker being very straight and allergy-ridden, Ralf kept the cast and crew laughing.
He recalled: “Josie and I had a break, and we had a bit of music on in the green room and Sisqo Thong Song came on and we were dancing away, making each other laugh.
“There’s this bit where the music builds and there’s a big key change and he just screams out and, to make Josie laugh, I was wearing a vest that they gave me, and I went Hulk Hogan and ripped it off.
“That’s about as lairy as it got, I’m afraid. I also had to apologise to costume after that.”
While he’s known for his laddish roles, Death in Paradise is more grown-up. Ben Miller was the original lead British detective playing Richard Poole from 2011 until the start of series three in 2014.
Kris Marshall then played Humphrey Goodman until series six in 2017, when he was replaced by Ardal O’Hanlon’s DI Jack Mooney until halfway into last year’s series nine.
Ralf took over and is back for the 10th series which begins on Thursday.
Josephine, who left the show in series eight, is back as DS Florence Cassell, as is Ben’s Richard Poole, although how remains a mystery given the character was murdered.
Rising Damp star Don Warrington, who plays Commissioner Selwyn Patterson, is back having played the part from the beginning, as is French actress Elizabeth Bourgine who plays Catherine Bordey.
Ralf has a take on why the show has been a fans’ favourite for a decade.
He said: “The murders and the puzzles are genuinely exciting, intriguing and satisfying. It’s a show that’s incredibly unique and looks like nothing else.”
Cases this series include a famous musician who gets shot in a locked room and next week’s first episode which takes place on a live morning TV show after one of the reporters is found dead in her pool.
Ralf is storing up memories of a lifetime being on the show.
He said: “It’s been pretty special. I shot a scene last year in a helicopter, I’ve been on a boat – who gets to go ‘this is my job’ and be taken out on a boat in the Caribbean? It’s special.
“Before lockdown we used to do cast and crew workouts in the evening after work. We were playing a bit of football but you have to monitor the situation with the pandemic. It’s been sensational, I love every second of it.”
Death in Paradise returns on Thursday, BBC1 at 9pm.
I was wearing a vest they gave me and I went Hulk Hogan and ripped it off RALF LITTLE ON ANTICS TO KEEP CAST AND CREW AMUSED