Death in Paradise celebrates 100th show

Since it first aired in 2011, the fish-out-of-water detective drama Death in Paradise has featured four different leading men (although current star Ralf Little, who plays DI Neville Parker, is now officially the longest serving).

There have been numerous other staffing changes at the Saint Marie police station, but there have been a couple of constants since Death in Paradise began – Élizabeth Bourgine, who plays bar owner and now mayor Catherine, and Don Warrington, aka Commissioner Selwyn Patterson.

So, it seems only fitting that he’s at the heart of the tonight’s episode which is also the show’s 100th, but there’s a chance that he could become the latest person to depart the crime-ridden island.

The edition finds Selwyn celebrating 50 years of service, but sadly the anniversary party takes a shocking turn when he’s targeted by a mystery assassin and left fighting for his life. So, the investigation is definitely personal, but will that cloud Neville and the team’s judgement as they try to find out who is responsible? And, more importantly, will the Commissioner pull through?

Don Warrington isn’t giving much away, but he does promise it will hook viewers. He says: “It’s an episode where we move away from the sort of conventional case, as it is a crime that involves everybody.

“Everybody is emotionally involved in solving it, given the victim is somebody they know. They have an emotional response that is different because normally, we don’t know the victims, so, there’s a detachment when dealing with them.”

He adds: “There’s a sense of jeopardy about this case which I think hopefully makes it exciting to watch. I suppose the big question is, will he make it or not?”

The veteran actor, who first found fame in the 1970s sitcom Rising Damp, can understand why his character has stayed in Saint Marie when so many of his colleagues have quit. Don explains: “He loves his job. I think when you love what you do, you tend to be quite good at it.

“Although he can be quite tough with people, he also cares about them. He cares about each member of his team, even Neville, who irritates him! But nevertheless, there are moments of tenderness between him and Neville because if you strip away all Neville’s issues, Selwyn is very concerned about people’s humanity.”

And if it should turn out that this is his final episode, at least Don has fond memories of all of his co-stars.

He says: “I remember moments with Ben [Miller], I particularly liked it when I shouted at him… And I liked the moments with Kris [Marshall] where there was a kind of tolerance of him.

“I remember Ardal [O’Hanlon] because they formed a sort of philosophical relationship which I thought was gentle and thought-provoking, involving two people who were happy to reveal bits of themselves to each other when they were away from work, and that was nice.

He adds: “Neville, I remember moments because he’s, on one level, such an irritant to Selwyn, but he also finds him incredible.”

Let’s keep our fingers crossed this isn’t the end of their working relationship…