Death in Paradise To Return for Season 14 – Release Date Confirmed
Last Updated on April 22, 2026
January is a miserable time for most people. Christmas is done, we’re broke, the days are cold, and the nights are long.
I say this because, historically, Death in Paradise has genuinely been the weekly bright spot in what can often be a bit of a meh week for a lot of people.
For years, the time slot, in the UK at least, was the first Thursday of January at 9pm on BBC1.
The sun, sand, and sea had us googling ‘Where is Saint Marie’ or ‘Where is Death in Paradise filmed?’ faster than we could down one of Catherine’s rum cocktails.
Then the time slot moved to a Sunday in 2024, and we were made to wait an agonising four weeks for the familiar theme tune to blast from our TV screens.
It turns out that wasn’t such a bad thing because as soon as we waved bye-bye to DI Neville Parker, we said hello to DI Humphrey Goodman as Beyond Paradise kicked off its new season.
We got our money’s worth from Robert Thorogood’s creation, and as we head into 2025, the good news is that both shows are coming back to do it all over again.
So, what will season 14 have in store for us? There’s a lot to catch up on, so let’s go…
New Episodes & A New Detective
First off, season 14 will return and the exact date has just been announced as Friday 31st January at 9pm.
The second, and probably bigger announcement is that with Neville sailing off into the sunset with DS Florence Cassell, a new detective was needed to fill those big shoes.
That honour has gone to the brilliant Don Gilet (Eastenders), who will now play DI Mervin Wilson.
Unlike past detectives who have been sent from London to fill the role at Honore Police Station, Wilson arrived in the Christmas Special and was drafted on to the case as he was already on the island on holiday.
However, the team soon discovered that Mervin also had another motive for being on the island. Exciting!
If you haven’t already seen it, the Death in Paradise special dropped on BBC iPlayer and BBC One on Sunday 22 December!
It’s still there if you need to catch up…
Cast Updates
Not only did we say au revoir to DI Neville Parker at the end of season 13 but we were also heartbroken to see Officer Marlon Pryce (Tahj Miles) leave the show too.
Marlon made the tough decision to accompany his younger sister to Jamaica after she was offered a school scholarship.
The good news is that the door is still open for his return in the future, but sadly, he won’t be making an appearance in 2025.
So who does that leave us with?
- DI Mervin Wilson – Don Gilet
- Commissioner Selwyn Patterson – Don Warrington
- Catherine Bordey – Elizabeth Bourgine
- DS Naomi Thomas – Shantol Jackson
- Officer Dwayne Myers – Danny John-Jules
- Officer Darlene Curtis – Ginny Holder
Of course, we’ll also have our usual guest stars who form the central plot of each weekly puzzling mystery.
For now, the team looks strong, and we’re crossing our fingers and toes that there are no more departures from our favourite cozy crime series.
BBC and PBS
Death in Paradise is one of the widest-selling British dramas and over the past ten years has successfully distributed the show to over 240 territories around the world.
That includes Australia, France, South Africa and the US so finding where it airs in every country would be a nearly impossible task.
What I can say, though, is that it airs on BBC 1 and iPlayer in the UK and PBS in America.
Who Played All of the Detectives?
Ben Miller – DI Richard Poole
Ben Miller played DI Richard Poole for the first 16 episodes of the show.
Poole was the first detective on Saint Marie, a fish-out-of-water British cop struggling with the island’s laid-back lifestyle.
Miller left the show in 2014 during season 3 when his character was shockingly murdered.
He cited personal reasons, including family commitments and the difficulty of being away from his pregnant wife during filming.
You can catch him in the equally brilliant Professor T, another cracking cozy mystery TV series.
Kris Marshall – DI Humphrey Goodman
Kris Marshall portrayed DI Humphrey Goodman for 30 episodes.
Goodman was a clumsy but brilliant detective who gradually embraced island life.
Marshall departed in 2017 after season 6, with his character leaving for love.
He explained his exit was due to his son starting school and the challenges of spending half the year in Guadeloupe.
He returned to his role but in the spin-off show Beyond Paradise, which generally begins to air after the newest season of Death in Paradise has ended.
Ardal O’Hanlon – DI Jack Mooney
Ardal O’Hanlon, an Irish comedian and actor famous for his role in Father Ted, played DI Jack Mooney for 31 episodes.
Mooney was a widower who found new purpose on Saint Marie but O’Hanlon left the show in 2020 during season 9, with his character returning to London.
He stated he felt it was time to move on and explore other opportunities, expressing a sense of completion with the role.
Ralf Little – DI Neville Parker
Ralf Little, known for The Royle Family portrayed DI Neville Parker for 31 episodes.
Parker was a detective with numerous allergies who initially disliked island life but grew to love it.
Little departed after season 13 in 2024, with his character finally getting his happy ending with DS Florence Cassell.
He explained that he felt Neville’s story had reached its natural conclusion.
With 104 regular episodes plus a few Christmas specials, in all there have been four Detective Inspectors sent from London to Saint Marie to help solve crime.
Don Gilet will be the fifth DI when he lands on the Caribbean island with 8 new episodes in season 14 in 2025.
Filming & Location
Season 14 has now finished filming and that includes the Christmas special, which wrapped in October.
The show itself is set on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie, but is actually filmed on the very real and beautiful island of Guadeloupe in the French Caribbean.
In the world of Death in Paradise, Saint Marie is a picturesque island paradise located in the eastern Caribbean.
It’s described as a British Overseas Territory, though it was formerly under French control – explaining the mix of British and French influences seen in the show.
The island’s capital city is the charming coastal town of Honoré, home to our intrepid detectives and the surprisingly high murder rate that keeps them busy.
In reality, most of the filming takes place on Guadeloupe, a French overseas region in the Lesser Antilles.
The island group is shaped like a butterfly, with most Death in Paradise locations concentrated on the western wing, Basse-Terre.
The picturesque fishing village of Deshaies on Basse-Terre’s northwest coast serves as the primary filming location, doubling as the fictional town of Honoré.
Honoré Police Station is actually a church hall in Deshaies, with the priest’s office cleverly disguised as the incident room.
Catherine’s Bar is the real-life Le Madras restaurant, and the Detective’s beach shack is located on the stunning Anse de la Perle beach, about three miles north of Deshaies.
Interestingly, the shack is dismantled between filming seasons to protect it from winter storms.
Filming for an eight-episode season of Death in Paradise typically takes about six months. The production usually begins in May and wraps up in October or November.
This schedule allows the crew to take advantage of Guadeloupe’s best weather while avoiding the hurricane season.
The long filming period is necessary due to the challenges of shooting in a tropical location where the heat and humidity can be intense, and sudden rain showers can disrupt filming.
Plus, the production team needs to work around the schedules of tourists and locals using the public spaces that double as their set.
Overall, though, we get eight glorious episodes of beautiful sunshine and puzzling mysteries that keep us guessing until the end.
