# Death In Paradise (now with a poll in post 12 for best DI) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [September 22, 2025, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280 "2025-09-22T03:11:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/1 "2025-09-22T03:11:10Z")
We like watching _Death In Paradise_. (The first series is my favourite.) Something occurred to me tonight: What _is_ it with the English detectives and lizards? Growing up in San Diego, it was a treat to catch an alligator lizard. It was always fun to spot anloes in New Orleans. I loved the geckos in, and outside, of our Air B&B in Hawaii. Lizards are cool. 😎 So why do the English Inspectors seem, at least in earlier episodes, to have issues with ‘Harry’? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/2 "2025-09-22T05:12:09Z")
I think only the first one had any issues with Harry. Even Neville adjusted to him quick. I thought the second DI was the best. He’s even got a sequel show back in England, though that didn’t click for me. Humphrey played by Kris Marshall. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/3 "2025-09-22T10:00:15Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > What _is_ it with the English detectives and lizards? Growing up in San Diego . . . They didn’t grow up in San Diego. They’re not used to seeing reptiles in the house. Some of them probably wonder if it creates, or indicates, a hygiene issue. For all of them, it serves to indicate the exotic nature of the place they’ve come to. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/4 "2025-09-22T11:26:06Z")
It’s cuter than a snake or a spider. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/5 "2025-09-22T11:36:33Z")
AH! 😄 That’s like saying Quasimoto is cuter than Frankenstein. LOL ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/6 "2025-09-22T12:12:49Z")
I grew up in NYC and New Jersey, the lizards are cute to me. Same with all the anoles in Florida. But again, it was only the first detective that had a problem with Harry. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/7 "2025-09-22T12:46:57Z")
It wasn’t just Harry: Richard Poole hated everything about the Caribbean in general and Saint Marie in particular. The fact that only toward the end of his tenure did he start to take the stick out of his butt didn’t help. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/8 "2025-09-22T13:18:57Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I think only the first one had any issues with Harry. There was someone else on an episode yesterday, but I don’t remember now if it was a detective. May have been a tourist. I should have just said ‘English’, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/9 "2025-09-22T13:21:39Z")
I occasionally wonder how long those lizards or geckos or whatever type of CGI lizard Harry is supposed to be actually live. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/10 "2025-09-22T13:23:59Z")
He is a CGI **[anole](https://wannabenaturalist.com/anole/?srsltid=AfmBOorqKLnjYk4uMqqb_eg4ZSHbTJXoO9O5Or2gxvmrcppPhEVODkhO)**. Typically they live 2-5 year but some exceed even 8 years in captivity. 10 years is the max. So clearly Harry current is not the original Harry. We’re on season 14 I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/11 "2025-09-22T13:25:18Z")
Ta muchly. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/12 "2025-09-22T13:28:39Z")
I stumbled on something interesting the other day. Detective Inspector #5, Mervin Wilson is played by Don Gilet. Don Gilet appears in season 4 episode 1 in 2015 as the villain of the week. Oh, if anyone was wondering, he’s due to return for season 15 which is already filming. _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/12))_ Damn that poll was hard to set up, I couldn’t get a ranking poll to work. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/13 "2025-09-22T13:33:19Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Detective Inspector #5 Ovation doesn’t show the series in order. They’ll have sequential episodes, but they bounce around with the series. We’re seeing a lot of 'Jack Mooney’ (Ardal O’Hanlon). We keep hearing him as Father Doyle. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/14 "2025-09-22T13:39:24Z")
Which show was that? I really only know him from Death in Paradise and Derry Girls. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/15 "2025-09-22T13:40:38Z")
_[Father Ted](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Ted)_[.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Ted) And a correction: O’Hanlon plays [Father Dougal McGuire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Dougal_McGuire). ‘Doyle’ is the name of the housekeeper. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/16 "2025-09-22T14:36:38Z")
I see there is now a poll. I voted for Richard Poole because he was the ‘fish out of water’ and very obstinate about it. Humphrey Goodman keeps reminding me of that movie where he goes to the United States because American women go nuts for British accents. (Christmas movie with Hugh Grant. I can never remember its name.) Jack Mooney, as I said, reminds me of Father McGuire. I don’t see the other detectives as much because, as I said, Ovation bounces around and it seems they like to show the earlier seasons. But I like all of the detectives. (And FWIW, Camille is my favourite DS.) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/17 "2025-09-22T15:09:18Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Humphrey Goodman keeps reminding me of that movie where he goes to the United States because American women go nuts for British accents. (Christmas movie with Hugh Grant. I can never remember its name.) _Love Actually_. Personally I find it a profoundly stupid film but it does seem to have a following. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Jack Mooney, as I said, reminds me of Father McGuire. Ardal O’Hanlon does seem to struggle to escape the shadow of Father Dougal but I did like him in this. He was also briefly in a superhero sitcom which was not worth watching (not down to him; it just didn’t work overall). (Just looked that up - **My Hero** ran for SIX SEASONS? Between this and _Love Actually_ my tastes clearly differ from the general public’s). Anyway - Kris Marshall is another one who has been typecast to death but nonetheless I did like the Humphrey episodes. He may have benefitted from placement - not there for the first season but sliding in right when the series was really hitting its stride and leaving before it got tired. I was less enamoured of his spinoff series, though. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > (And FWIW, Camille is my favourite DS.) Same. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/18 "2025-09-22T15:10:54Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > (And FWIW, Camille is my favourite DS.) Agreed, and Dwayne was my favorite officer. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/19 "2025-09-22T15:22:16Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Agreed, and Dwayne was my favorite officer. Agreed… Though I keep seeing him as Cat. 🐈‍⬛ ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/20 "2025-09-22T15:33:55Z")
Ben Miller has been the only one that I actually liked (but I haven’t seen any episodes with the current guy). I also respect his decision to leave because he didn’t want to spend that much time away from home and family. I think the next Inspector should be Camille, coming back as a DI. I’d watch that. Speaking of accents, the accents of the “local” characters seems all over the map, and some of them seem pretty labored. I say this as a person who has almost no experience previously listening to people from the Caribbean. Anyway, I understand actors doing accents, but as an audience member I shouldn’t be so aware of some of them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280.md?page=2)