Return to Paradise: BBC show returns with Grimsby actor Lloyd Griffith as detective Colin Cartwright
Many of us will be dreaming of sunnier times as the days get dark and dreary here in the UK.
Return to Paradise, the Australia-based spin-off of the long-running Death in Paradise, is back and might be the dose of sunshine television viewers need.
The hit BBC show is returning for a third series and will see Anna Samson reprise her role as DS Mackenzie Clarke as she balances the chaotic fallout of her personal life with solving murder mysteries.
Set in the fictional Australian coastal town of Dolphin Cove, the new season will pick up where it left off and will follow the aftermath of the disastrous wedding between DS Clarke’s ex-fiance Glenn Strong (Tai Hara) and his new partner, Daisy Dixon (Andrea Demetriades).
Mack throws herself into her workload alongside the ever-faithful Detective Senior Constable Colin Cartwright (Lloyd Griffith). They find themselves untangling some seemingly impossible murders: an artist stabbed in full view of an audience; a wildlife worker killed in a locked cage; and a famous film director shot at her own screening.
Australian actress Armstrong joins the cast as DS Clarke’s force-of-nature mother, Jillian, while The White Princess star Jacob Collins-Levy will feature as charming new pathologist, Leo.
The detective drama is a spin-off to hit show Death In Paradise, which is set on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie and stars EastEnders actor Don Gilet.
What can audiences expect from series three of the spin-off?
Griffith, who is from Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire, says: “The resolution of that series two cliffhanger! As the actors, as soon as we got that script, we're clambering to it as quick as possible to read what happens after those moments, where our characters go next, who might be killed off, what surprises might be in store. There’s an investment our audience has made into the ‘will they, won’t they’ of Mack and Glenn, and I think they’ll be surprised by the outcome and the new path that we take people down.
“I was in Greece recently and this couple came up to me telling me how much they love the show, because they used to live in Australia, and they love the reminders of the culture and the little Aussie eccentricities.
"Return to Paradise is a show that lovingly homages the best of Australian stereotypes. People just love that escapism, like ‘oh wow, this is actually what Australian life is like.’ The audience will love seeing what the writers have created.”
The arrival of Mack’s mother is unexpected.
Samson says: “Any parent-child relationship is really fertile ground for drama and comedy. No matter how good or bad your relationship is with your parents, it’s potent.”
Return to Paradise is back on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Friday.