And with the murder of a game show contestant to solve in tonight's episode (Friday 7th February), they needed as many hands on deck as possible to close the case.
After Mervin flagged the team's concerns to Selwyn, the commissioner had a candidate in mind: Sebastian Rose.
He completed the training scheme before Officer Brice, but had yet to find a placement and was now spending his days handing out flyers on the beach wearing a pineapple outfit.
"He wasn't my first choice, but I think there's potential there," he said. "It just needs teasing out a bit."
And with that, Sebastian Rose was given his uniform and is now part of the team – well, on a "provisional basis", insisted Mervin, who was unimpressed by the new arrival.
But like Selwyn, we have high hopes that he'll make a name for himself for all of the right reasons.
Officer Sebastian Rose is played by Shaquille Ali-Yebuah, a 29-year-old actor from Hammersmith, London, who some of you might have seen before.
But for those of you who haven't, or you can't quite place where you recognise him from, here's a list of his most notable work.
Who is Shaquille Ali-Yebuah, Death in Paradise's new officer Sebastian Rose?
The First Team. Fudge Park/BBC
Shaquille Ali-Yebuah previously appeared in a CBBC show called Dixi, which starred Bridgerton's Claudia Jessie and ran for five seasons from 2014-2021.
His other credits include football comedy The First Team, which was the first project Iain Morris and Damon Beesley worked on together after The Inbetweeners, and The Feed, a sci-fi drama which aired on Virgin TV and Prime Video, starring Game of Thrones and Gang of London's Michelle Fairley.
You might also recognise him from sci-fi superhero film iBoy with Maisie Williams and Rory Kinnear, and Channel 4 comedy I Hate You starring Sex Education's Tanya Reynolds and Melissa Saint.
Ali-Yebuah's theatre credits include Wish List at the Royal Court Theatre.
Death in Paradise continues on Friday 14th February at 9pm.
Abby Robinson is the Drama Editor for Radio Times, covering TV drama and comedy titles. She previously worked at Digital Spy as a TV writer, and as a content writer at Mumsnet. She possesses a postgraduate diploma and a degree in English Studies.
