# 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:** 2
**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, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/21 "2025-09-22T16:18:11Z")
It is well nigh impossible to not see him as Cat. Dwayne was a great character. I don’t seem to have a strong feeling about best DS. I guess Camille was probably the best. * * * * * * The accents are all over the place. But I can usually ignore that part. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/22 "2025-09-22T16:21:10Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > _Love Actually_. Personally I find it a profoundly stupid film but it does seem to have a following. Thank you. So many people think because I’m a woman I should _love_ this movie. I don’t. Very much. I like Ben Miller (except for his Professor T), and I like how he played Richard Poole. I like his slightly tetchy relationships with his fellow police – especially Camille. There’s something about Kris Marshall that always puts me off a little. Is it because he reminds me of a giant Opie? He was o.k. I stopped watching regularing after him, but I’ve dipped my toe in a few episodes. The others were pretty forgettable. ---
**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, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/23 "2025-09-22T16:22:15Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > There’s something about Kris Marshall that always puts me off a little. Is it because he reminds me of a giant Opie? I liked him well enough in the role in this show, but he looks more than a little like my brother-in-law (who is kind of a pompous bite in the ass), so I can’t watch those episodes without seeing my BIL. 😉 ---
**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, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/24 "2025-09-22T16:28:10Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > 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. Of course Danny John-Jules Tobi Bakare, and Tahj Miles were all born in London. Don Warrington was actually born on Trinidad (but raised in London). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/25 "2025-09-22T17:11:26Z")
I liked Kris Neville the best overall as a character. Ben Miller was almost unwatchable except for the aha scenes, where he suddenly put all the clues together while others stared agape. It probably helped that the plots felt fresh those first few seasons before you could spot the impossible answer as soon as you saw the murder because they had already done it six times. (Or worse, had them physically improbable or impossible.) Ralf Little I hated so much that I stopped watching the show. I’ll have to try coming back to see how they handle Don Gilet. ---
**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, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/26 "2025-09-22T17:14:49Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Ralf Little I hated so much that I stopped watching the show. I’ll have to try coming back to see how they handle Don Gilet. Ralf Little started bad but they had him grow a lot and by the end of his run, it was a good fit. Don Gilet also fitted into the role well after an iffy start, a quicker adjustment than Little. He’s the most like the first detective I would say. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/27 "2025-09-22T17:25:44Z")
Well, the awfulness of the plots didn’t help any. I’m still not sure they can overcome that mountain. ---
**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, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/28 "2025-09-22T17:39:52Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Well, the awfulness of the plots didn’t help any. _DiP_ is akin to “cozy mysteries\*” – it’s usually not _too_ serious, even though it’s about murder, it’s not gory (and the murders nearly always happen off-screen), it often has humorous and/or romantic subplots, and I am pretty sure that a fair amount of its appeal to its fans is the Caribbean setting, and attractive young actors. They aren’t really _meant_ to be heavy-duty (or even particularly well-written) plots, I don’t think. It’s popcorn television, and it’s proven to be a popular formula for its audience. \*- I don’t think that it really qualifies as a “cozy,” as one of the hallmarks of that subgenre is that the detective is a amateur, and not a police officer or professional detective. ---
**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, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/29 "2025-09-22T17:42:47Z")
I put it on par with Murdoch Mysteries and Father Brown. ---
**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, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/30 "2025-09-22T17:44:46Z")
Agreed. It’s “light,” as murder mysteries go, but not as overtly over-the-top silly as, say, _Shakespeare & Hathaway_. ---
**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, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/31 "2025-09-22T17:45:02Z")
We don’t watch _Murdoch Mysteries_. I think my wife used to watch _Father Brown_ when it was on. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > not as overtly over-the-top silly as, say, _Shakespeare & Hathaway_. We do watch that. It cracks me up that the young guy keeps coming up with disguises that wouldn’t fool anybody… except for the people on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/32 "2025-09-22T18:13:27Z")
You don’t have to sell me. My wife and I are fans of popcorn mysteries, both books and tv series, preferring them to the more common norm today of stretching one case out over a season. We made it through at least eleven or twelve seasons of _DiP_ so you can’t say we dismissed it. We even watched all of _Shakespeare & Hathaway_, but mostly because Ovation shows it all the time. But popcorn notoriously has a reputation for getting stale. That’s my end point unless a fresh new batch brings the flavor back. ---
**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, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/33 "2025-09-22T18:19:46Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > But popcorn notoriously has a reputation for getting stale. That’s my end point unless a fresh new batch brings the flavor back. Oh, absolutely, and while I watch (and reasonably enjoy) _Death in Paradise_, it’s mostly by osmosis, because my wife, or my parents (if I’m visiting them) are watching it. It’s extremely formulaic, and they’ve used that same formula for over a hundred episodes. I imagine that, for some people, they want that same flavor of popcorn every time, and DiP delivers that. I also find that the newer actors in the more recent seasons lack the charm and interest of the original cast, but that’s just my particular preference. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/34 "2025-09-22T23:28:50Z")
Series creator Robert Thorogood left the show after series 11 and was only doing one episode a series for several years before that. It might explain the drop in quality. He wrote a couple of novels which have been dramatized as the _Marlowe Murder Club_. Thorogood had a penchant for locked room mysteries, which shows up in _Marlowe._ ---
**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 23, 2025, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/35 "2025-09-23T06:38:32Z")
(Marlow the town, not Marlowe the author. One is the ultimate pretty quiet riverside commuter town, the other died in squalid and mysterious circumstances, still investigated and argued over). Meta factoid about DiP casting: in one episode, one of the suspects is played by Caroline Proust, who is better known as the headstrong cop Laure Bertaud in the long-running French series _Engrenages (Spiral)._ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2025, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/36 "2025-09-23T07:02:17Z")
I voted for DI Mooney, because I liked how he wasn’t a klutzy fish-out-of-water, and instead had a more realistic motive for acclimatising to being on St Marie, i.e. dealing with his wife’s death. I would happily watch a spin-off with his character. He does cameo in the Australian spin-off, _Return To Paradise_, but only briefly. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2025, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/37 "2025-09-23T16:21:29Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I think the next Inspector should be Camille, coming back as a DI. I’d watch that. Me too! 🧐 ---
**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 27, 2025, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/38 "2025-09-27T00:27:18Z")
Just watched S13E8. Series 14 is not available On Demand. ---
**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 27, 2025, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/39 "2025-09-27T11:25:52Z")
Just thought of another cross-channel connection: Sara Martins, who played Camille, also had a small part in the French language version of Maigret, with Bruno Crémer. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2025, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280/40 "2025-09-27T16:50:10Z")
I’m pretty sure I saw her in a _Father Brown_ …one of the ones with that jewel thief guy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-paradise-now-with-a-poll-in-post-12-for-best-di/1023280.md?page=3)