Life’s still a beach for Ben Miller in Paradise

Ben Miller discovers paradise isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be

One of us at IOTTS loves crime dramas, from Morse to Rebus and pretty much everything in between.

The other, however, works to the theory that they’re all a much of a muchness, and you only really need to watch the first and last 10 minutes to find out everything you need to know – who dies and whodunnit.

But which one of us settled down with the first of a new series of Death in Paradise? We’ll let you figure it out, while we get to the plot.

Ben Miller is back as the slightly prickly, oh-so British detective Richard Poole, and while in this second series he’s a bit more used to the heat and flies (he only mopped his fevered brow the once), there’s still plenty of work for him and his team to be getting on with.

This time, it is the rich owner of a former sugar plantation (played by the criminally underused James Cosmo) who bites the dust, when someone plants (ahem) a machete in his back.

A couple of baffling clues and a room full of suspects leave Poole and his squad racking up the overtime as they tried to figure out which of the victim’s friends and family (among whom are guest stars Tom Ward and Stephanie Beacham) could be responsible.

You definitely get your money’s worth with this delightful drama – from Miller’s pithy, throwaway one-liners to the old-fashioned feel – and we mean that in a nice way.

It’s very old-school Agatha Christie as, in the denouement of this opening episode, all the suspects are gathered together in one place, before Poole reveals the culprit.

There may be dark deeds afoot in paradise, but we’re more than happy to be in the thick of them.

THE WHO, WHAT, WHEN OF IT
WHAT’S IT CALLED?
Death in Paradise

WHEN IS IT ON?
9pm, Tuesday, January 8

WHAT CHANNEL?
BBC1

WHO’S IN IT?
Ben Miller (Armstrong and Miller, Johnny English, Primeval)
Stephanie Beacham (Dynasty, Bad Girls, Coronation Street)
Tom Ward (Silent Witness, Vanity Fair, Doctor Who)
Danny John-Jules (Red Dwarf)

WHO SHOULD WATCH IT?
Anyone who loves watching Ben Miller and his effortlessness on screen – and whodunnit fans.

WHO SHOULDN’T WATCH IT?
Well, we would have said people who don’t like crime dramas, but we may have just proved ourselves wrong…

WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Ben Miller talks about filming in the Caribbean