The BBC has announced a release date for new detective comedy drama Beyond Paradise, reviving Death in Paradise character and fan favourite DI Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall).

The new series explores DI Humphrey's life back in the UK with another familiar face from the original show, Martha Lloyd (Sally Bretton). Martha and Humphrey are now engaged to be married following the emotional climax between the two in Death in Paradise series six. 

Consisting of six episodes, the series follows the pair’s new life in Shipton Abbott, Martha’s hometown by the Devonshire coast. DI Goodman joins the local police force in the area and faces new mysteries each week, his unorthodox style confounding the rural police force. Martha chases her dream of opening her own restaurant in the area.

During the series, Shipton Abbott is rocked by a family gone missing, the robbery of a precious painting, a corpse discovered in a crop circle, and a local claiming she was attacked by an assailant from the seventeenth century.

The show also stars Zahra Ahmadi as DS Esther Williams, Dylan Llewellyn as PC Kelby Hartford and Felicity Montagu as office support Margo Martins. Other characters from Death in Paradise are rumoured to be making some cameos.

Created by Robert Thorogood and executive producer Tony Jordan, the show is produced by Red Planet Pictures, and commissioned by the BBC and BritBox International. Thorogood leads a team of writers including Amy Guyler, Ian Kershaw and Chloe Mi Lin Ewart. 

“The brilliant Tony Jordan wrote a couple of scripts, and we got the spin off,” said Marshall, speaking on The One Show. Explaining the show’s relation to Death in Paradise, he said: “It’s very similar, in its veins. The main themes are the same but it’s very unique.”

The show is produced by Lindsay Hughes, directed by Sandy Johnson and Matt Carter. The show will be on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Friday 24 February 2023.