Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Kris Marshall, Sally Breton, Zahra Ahmadi, Dylan Llewellyn, Felicity Montague, Barbara Flynn, Jamie Bamber, Jade Harrison, Annette Badland, Ingrid Oliver, Phil Daniels, Monserat Lombard, Ruth Madoc, Pooky Quesnel, Marcia Warren, Samantha Spiro, Don Warrington, Ralf Little, Shantol Jackson, Tahj Miles, Spencer Jones.
“Wherever my travels may lead, paradise is where I am.”
Voltaire may have been enthusing on the seduction of good thoughts regarding the beauty in being alive, that wherever you go, which ever imagined country or longed for city you could find yourself. It will be a finer experience for having accepted that you can, all your soul has endured and still give a piece of it away, to leave the happiness of your existence for others to benefit when you depart for another town. However, Voltaire’s only conceived notion of what lays in the heart of men who commit crime in paradise was arguably limited.
Paradise is all around, but so is crime, and whether in the Caribbean, or on the Devon coast, paradise is often tainted by the actions of others for their own benefit or sense of retribution and balancing of what they perceive to be a wrong and a sleight against them.
Beyond Paradise is where the armchair detectives find themselves in the company of Humphrey Goodman and his fiancée Martha Lloyd, the West Country of England adding its own indisputable beauty to the Death In Paradise spin off, and one where Kris Marshall resumes his role as the good natured but keenly dedicated member of the police force.
Far from the shoals and exquisite nature of Saint Marie, Henry Goodman’s life journey has taken him to England’s south coast, where he learns a valuable lesson, that the journey is one of surprise, of revelation, of upset, of growth, but most importantly, it is never dull.
Reprising the role he enjoyed over the course of three seasons, Kris Marshall’s interpretation and presentation of the accident prone but well intended detective, is one of instant recognition and delight, and whilst all who have withered slightly under the gaze of Saint Marie’s Commissioner Selwyn Patterson have been well received, it is perhaps to Kris Marshall’s own sense of persuasion in the role which has seen him, along with Sally Breton as Martha, become an absolute fan favourite, one deserving of having his own story furthered.
What marks Beyond Paradise out as more than just another run of the mill spin off, is its acceptance to tackle the emotional breakdown and toil that comes between two people when one is dedicated to their job and to the happiness of their love interest, that these worlds can, and often do, collide in ways which pushes the relationship to a place where things such as family can break them.
It is in that understanding of the job, of the natural magnificence provided by the location, Looe in Cornwall, and the inclusion in the cast of actors such as the ever-gracious Barbara Flynn, Zahra Ahmadi, Dylan Llewellyn, and Jamie Bamber, as well as guest stars in the series such as Annette Badland, Ingrid Oliver, Marcia Warren, and the much-missed Ruth Madoc, that lights up the screens as cases such as blackmail, petty theft, abduction, and larceny leave their indelible mark on the first few weeks of Goodman’s career in Shipton Abbott
Whilst not deep or convoluted, it is a reminder that crime is not just about solving murders, that on occasion villainy is more than just solving the riddle of recently found body, and for that Beyond Paradise does exactly what it says on the television drama tin.
Enjoyable without stretching the limit of the armchair detective’s brain, to have Kris Marshall back on screen in a familiar role is as comforting and pleasurable as a favourite place on the map that you cannot help but forever wish to be. Ian D. Hall