Surfing a crime wave
TAKE a dollop of Midsomer Murders, add a pinch of Agatha Christie, mix with a slug of vintage Inspector Clouseau and you get the idea of Death in Paradise. If that’s got you searching for the off button, don’t: this comic mystery drama has more charm than Midsomer Murders because DI Poole is a much better character than the insufferably pompous Inspector Barnaby and it is written with a lighter touch.
Ben Miller is spot-on as the pink, sweaty Poole, the prissy exiled Met copper who hates beaches and insists on sweltering in his suit and tie, even in 40degree heat. The action starts at the weekend when he’s dragged along by glamorous DS Camille (Sara Martins), to a talk at the museum about a local pirate, Le Clerc. The story has it that back in the 18th century Le Clerc (whose portrait looks just like Johnny Depp) buried stolen treasure on the island, though no-one has ever tracked it down.
Cue an explosion and then a murder in the camp of some British treasure hunters on the trail of the gold.
It’s workaday telly for some of the wellkent faces who turn up this week, but with the considerable bonus of shooting on location in Guadeloupe, doubling as the fictional island of Saint Marie, out-of-work thespians must be falling over themselves for the chance to play a shifty tourist or visiting academic with a secret. Everyone looks like they’re enjoying themselves, and thanks to Miller’s deft handling of the lead role, not to mention the growing rapport between him and the sharp-witted, warm-hearted Camille, the action bubbles along nicely to a neat little climax Christie would have been proud of.