Loving Paradise to Death

By Megan Wagner

At this time last year, I was vacationing in beautiful Turks and Caicos. I couldn’t imagine a more gorgeous place and had a very, very hard time coming home to the freezing cold and snowy Buffalo weather.

So when I first heard about the new BBC series, “Death in Paradise” airing Saturdays at 8 p.m. starting Jan. 12, the title totally baffled me!  Who on earth would think that paradise is a deathly place?

The series is about an English detective who goes to work on a beautiful tropical island and hates it. What’s up with this guy? So I went to WNED-TV vice president of programming Ron Santora to shed some light on the series:

Explain the character of Detective Richard Poole (Ben Miller) and the challenges he faces.
(RS): Detective Richard Poole is used to the order and sophistication of one of the world’s largest criminal organizations, Scotland Yard.  But when he is sent to the tiny island of Saint-Marie this quintessentially British cop is a total fish out of water. 

How do the conflicts between Detective Richard Poole and his colleagues provide comedic relief that viewers will enjoy?
(RS): Awaiting Richard when he arrives on Saint-Marie is a ramshackle station and a very different type of policing. Where Richard is a very starched and proper detective, he immediately runs into conflict with the rest of his new team as they have their own way of doing things and are not anxious to change. Because of their unique differences where the stiff and proper British upper lip crosses paths with the very laid back and relaxed attitude of the residents of a hot and steamy tropical island.

This is a new series from the BBC – in your words, why do you think viewers will enjoy it?
(RS): Over the years, we have experienced great dramas, mysteries and wonderful British comedies from the BBC. What the BBC does is create very human and personal stories that people can relate to because they never insult the intelligence of the viewer. With “Death in Paradise,” the best of what the BBC does is create great mysteries and comedies and weave them together into a single series that I believe will delight our viewers.

I don’t know about you, but now I’m dying to check it out starting this Saturday at 8 p.m. on WNED-TV!