When is Kris Marshall leaving Death in Paradise – and when does Ardal O'Hanlon take over?
All your Death in Paradise questions answered as DI Humphrey Goodman prepares to pass the baton to DI Jack Mooney
For a drama where pretty much the same thing happens every week (someone gets murdered in an unlikely scenario, Saint Marie's resident cops ponder the puzzle, then DI Humphrey Goodman solves it in a moment of brilliance), Death in Paradise is going through a VERY eventful couple of episodes.
Just hours before the first instalment of a special London-set double bill of the murder mystery aired on BBC1, Kris Marshall announced he was quitting the show for good.
Yes, viewers will have to say goodbye to linen jacket-wearing Humphrey, who will be replaced by Father Ted star Ardal O'Hanlon as DI Jack Mooney. Which raises a few questions...
When is Kris Marshall stepping down?
Although the announcement was made ahead of this week's episode, Humphrey is sticking around for the second half of the double bill.
The team have been trying to solve a tricky case involving a murdered fisherman. Unfortunately, the four suspects – all businessmen from CityMet Bank – checked out of their hotel and returned to London before anyone could stop them.
That meant a trip abroad for Humphrey and his team, who flew back to the capital to continue the investigation with the help of a cheerful Irishman from the Met police. Who, of course, is O'Hanlon's character DI Jack Mooney.
The murder remains unsolved at the end of the first episode, with the detectives still confused about how the businessmen were involved and why.
Hopefully Humphrey will solve one last case before he calls it a day.
How will Humphrey leave?
This has not yet been revealed. But conveniently, his love interest Martha (Sally Bretton) has just moved back to London, so this would be an ideal time for him to stick around instead of running back off to the Caribbean.
He didn't see her in the first part of the double bill, but pictures reveal that Humphrey and Martha will definitely reunite next week.
When will DI Jack Mooney take over?
Again, we don't yet have a definitive date for this but it's unlikely that the Saint Marie police will be left without someone in charge for long, so as soon as Humphrey makes his decision to leave, we're expecting Ardal O'Hanlan's DI Jack Mooney to head off for the sunny climes of the Caribbean to take over. And who could blame him?
Death in Paradise continues at 9pm on Thursdays on BBC1
