While the first spin-off from Death in Paradise, Beyond Paradise followed up with a beloved character from the main show after they left Saint Marie, new spin-off Return to Paradise doesn't feature any returning characters among its main cast, instead introducing a wholly new team of detectives in Australia.
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Given this, there was always the chance that it could have ended up as a direct copy of the original show, simply in a new location - which is something co-creator James Hall has revealed the team were wary to avoid.
Speaking ahead of the series airing in the UK, Hall said: "For me, and Red Planet Pictures, we knew very early on that we didn’t want the Australia spin-off to look and feel like a copy of Death in Paradise, in which our fish-out-of-water detective is another English police officer who finds themselves unexpectedly working abroad.
"That’s why we very quickly alighted upon the idea of the detective being someone who was born and raised in Australia and was returning there after a period away. And that’s when we knew straight away that it had to be called Return to Paradise."
Return to Paradise. Red Planet / BBC Studios / John Platt
He continued: "But it’s the fact that DI Mackenzie Clarke never really liked Dolphin Cove or felt at home there that means she is still a fish-out-of-water, like all our detectives in Death in Paradise, even though she’s from that town.
"Plus, the way in which she left Dolphin Cove a number of years ago, means there’s a lot of people in town who aren’t happy she’s back.
"So, even though our lead detective is Australian and is essentially just going home, she’s essentially still just like Richard Poole in the first series of Death in Paradise, because she’s forced to solve murders in a place she desperately wants to leave."
Anna Samson plays Mackenzie in the new series, which is populated predominantly with Australian actors and characters, except for Lloyd Griffith's Colin Cartwright, the one Brit on the team.
Samson previously spoke about how the show differs from Death in Paradise, explaining the location is a major change, while saying: "Because the central detective role is returning to a hometown – that's very different from the original show. It's not set in the Caribbean, so there's not this culture clash.
"It's a fish out of water, but in a town that she knows, and they already know her, and she's out of place in a place that she knows. And I think that's quite unique to our show."
Return to Paradise will air on BBC One and iPlayer on Friday 22nd November.
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
