How Death in Paradise's Mervin Wilson takes the show in a fascinating new direction

But while DI Mervin Wilson is a fresh face, with his own unique quirks and history, there are various strands of the character that match what we've seen previously, such is the show's penchant for a formula.

Mervin is reluctant to stay in Saint Marie and struggles to adjust to the island's distinct ecosystem; he sees things that others can't and uses an unconventional method to get the investigation over the line; and his communication skills, well, they need work.

But there is something monumental that sets him apart from his predecessors and also adds real weight to the character.

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When we first meet Mervin, his bags are packed. His holiday was a colossal disappointment, or so we're told, and he can't get out of there fast enough, even paying extra to return early.

But his great escape is put on pause when his boss back in London asks him to lend Honoré Police a hand in solving the murders of two men dressed in Santa costumes, and the attempted murder of another. 'Tis the season, and all that.

Without a lead detective following Neville Parker's departure, the team need an experienced figure to lead the charge and Mervin is all that's available at that moment in time. So, he stays, but he makes sure that everyone he comes into contact with knows how unhappy he is about the arrangement – and that he intends to depart as soon as the case is closed.

But as the episode progresses, it quickly becomes clear that Mervin's desire to flee Saint Marie is rooted in something far deeper than his frustrations with the poor cell service, and that something will have a significant bearing on his time there.

After attempting to dodge the commissioner's questions about why he'd really come to Saint Marie in the first place and why he wanted to leave early, there comes a point when the detective has no choice but to reveal the truth.

Mervin had travelled to the Caribbean to visit his mother, a woman he'd never actually met, and he'd spent most of his trip parked outside her house in the hope that eventually, he'd build up enough courage to knock on her front door.

But sadly, their meeting doesn't take place.

After paying his mother's house another visit on learning that he'd be sticking around for the holidays, he's informed by one of her neighbours that she had died a few months prior.

Now, we don't know much about Mervin at this stage, but in his grand debut, two things were made abundantly clear: he's a proud man who doesn't want to be burdened with other people's sympathies, and despite his insistence that his life has not changed one jot after receiving news of his mother's death, he's emotionally crushed, although he'd never admit it to anyone, even to himself.

Even though he had initially decided not to knock on her door and instead catch a flight back home, in his mind she was still alive, which meant a meeting was still possible at some point along the line. But now, any hope of establishing a relationship with the woman who gave birth to him, or simply her answering his many burning questions, has been cruelly dashed.

While Death in Paradise is no stranger to heartbreak and tragedy – when DI Jack Mooney arrived in season 6, he'd not long lost his beloved wife – its preferred tone is easy-breezy, which makes Mervin's grief all the more arresting when it plays out.

To not only have lived a life without knowing his biological mother, but to have come so close to finally meeting her, only to have it snatched away, is an emotional gut punch that you'd never quite be able to shake off.

But now that he'll be staying in Saint Marie for the foreseeable, Mervin has an opportunity to learn more about his mother, even in her absence.

"I know you feel this island doesn't offer as much as it did when you arrived, but is that a reason to leave?" said Selwyn.

"Perhaps by getting to know Saint Marie, the island where your mother spent her life, you might get to know a little of her."

Anyone who has watched ITV's Long Lost Family, which seeks to reunite family members who have never met, will know that it is the not knowing, more than anything, that weighs on people.

And it's not just about getting to know his mother. Staying in Saint Marie also provides Mervin with an opportunity to learn more about his own identity and tap into a part of his world and culture that has, until this point, been closed off to him, which has the capacity to set him on the path to self-acceptance and healing.

There's also the possibility of Mervin forming relationships with other relatives – siblings, aunties, uncles, as well as chosen family who he could, in time, come to see as his own, all of which tees up an incredibly poignant and rich storyline, and one that will resonate with many viewers.

Unlike the show's previous four detectives, Mervin already has a deeply emotional connection to Saint Marie. The island is part of him, even though it doesn't quite feel that way right now. And as he gradually begins to make a home for himself, watching how his relationship with the place and its people develops not only takes the show in an interesting new direction, it brings new layers and depth to what we expect from the quintessential Death in Paradise lead detective.

New episodes of Death in Paradise will arrive in 2025.

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