Brexit could threaten the future of Death in Paradise warns show's creator
If the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal, the logistics of filming in Guadeloupe may just be too difficult says Robert Thorogood
Death in Paradise, the much-loved Caribbean mystery series, is returning to BBC1 next year for series seven with Father Ted star Ardal O’Hanlon taking over the bemused copper role from Kris Marshall.
But could Brexit stop later series of the show in their tracks?
Writer and creator Robert Thorogood certainly seems nervous that if our political masters don’t strike a deal with the EU it will make filming of the show in Guadeloupe extremely difficult.
"Guadeloupe is an overseas territory of France, so it’s part of the EU, which makes it really easy to film there," he tells RadioTimes.com. "If we left the single market, it could make things much harder for us. So, like the rest of the UK, we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens after Brexit”.
The financial and logistical challenges of striking up various contractual and tax deals could be “insurmountable” add sources.
With filming on series eight scheduled for next year, if the show is recommissioned, series nine would be expected to start filming in April 2019. And if we leave the EU without a deal, the new reality would kickstart a month before in March 2019.
“Filming in Guadeloupe works because it is in the EU. Other islands like St Lucia are beautiful – but the complicated arrangements would make it very hard if not impossible,” added a source. "At the moment filming there is the same as filming in London– but Brexit will change all that."
The producers Red Planet Productions formally recognise the danger, telling RadioTimes.com: “Any British production that films within the EU is faced with uncertainty”.
The looming difficulties of Brexit are not the only hitch to have hit the series in recent months.
As RadioTimes.com revealed in September, filming on series seven was halted after Hurricane Irma battered Guadeloupe.
The suspension was put in place when the government on the island issued a red alert warning as Irma, one of the worst hurricanes to ever hit the region, was about to strike.
Fortunately for the production, filming resumed after just a day's delay as the the worst of Irma’s 185 mph winds failed to hit Guadeloupe directly. However the storm did cause damage and left 8,000 homes and offices on the island without electricity.
Kris Marshall's character DI Humphrey Goodman left the show last series in a heartwarming episode after realising that his romance with Martha (Sally Bretton) was the real deal– but that he had to return to her native London to make it work.
Areal O’Hanlon appeared towards the end of series six and he is now the principal copper in the island paradise.
O'Hanlon's character, Detective Inspector Jack Mooney, is “a sad-sack Met officer working in a dank basement who gets this gig looking after visiting Caribbean officers,” according to the 51-year-old. The new series is expected to air in January with series regulars Josephine Jobert, Danny John-Jules, Tobi Bakare and Don Warrington all set to return to action.
