A full-on assault on Santahood and a new detective turned prime suspect: Death in Paradise sure knows how to make Don Gilet’s debut memorable.
Gilet’s Mervin Wilson takes over the reins from Ralf Little’s Neville Parker as lead detective in Saint Marie and his arrival on the island elevates this Christmas special from your traditional festive must-watch to the most important change in the franchise’s history thus far.
It has already been a year of shake-ups for the Paraverse, starting with Return to Paradise‘s Anna Samson taking on the role of Mackenzie Clarke, the franchise’s first female lead detective.
While Samson claimed that a woman taking the helm didn’t ‘change the DNA of the show as much as one might think‘, we would argue that it did. Return to Paradise may march to a similar beat as the existing shows in the franchise but it inherently reframes the way we see roles of power much in the same way that Gilet being the franchise’s first Black lead detective does.
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Before he even opens his mouth, his presence as an intelligent, Black, senior detective re-writes the code, stripping the antiquated colonial subtext that was bred-in from the arrival of Richard Poole (Ben Miller) and continued through all his replacements.
White lead detective followed white lead detective, propped up by Black subordinates, all reinforcing a perhaps mild, but nevertheless present white-saviour theme and the notion that Black somehow means lesser.
Don Warrington’s Commissioner Selwyn made the white detective/Black sidekick pairing palatable for many years, owing to Selwyn’s status as the most senior member of the police force (but not the lead actor and not the one leading investigations).
But the Death in Paradise veteran can no longer (and should no longer) bear that load, a fact that has now been acknowledged by the show’s creative team.
Gilet’s merit for the role, however, doesn’t solely rest on his Blackness. It’s clear that he is aptly suited for the part, offering a fresh, more inclusive take on what it means to be British beyond his race.
For those itching for the culture-clash aspect, it’s still there, just not packaged up in a buttoned-up, suit-and-tie white man melting under the Caribbean sun.
Instead we get Mervin, whose less formal way of speaking and relaxed dress sense is accompanied by a London swag (and by swag we mean a deep-seated resentment for anything that isn’t instantaneous).
There’s nothing more London than aggressively smashing the button for a lift in the hopes that the 57th press will finally make it arrive faster than the 56th.
Mervin chafes against the slower paced lifestyle of Saint Marie, manifesting in a poor phone signal, a lack of air-con and a million other little gripes over the course of the episode.
His ‘bah-humbugness’ is made even more raw owing to the fact he doesn’t even want to be there. “Like stepping back in time,” he laments loudly and openly.
His exasperation aside, this is the first time that Death in Paradise has offered fans something beyond the stereotypical male Brit (Ardal O’Hanlon aside) who – despite charming idiosyncrasies – maintained a whiff of upper-echelon stuffiness about him.
To be clear, Mervin’s more casual approach does nothing to diminish his credentials or intelligence, and yes, he still has his own set of quirks. Instead it gives fans a more modern side of British culture to chew on – and it’s refreshing.
The Death in Paradise Christmas special is available to watch on BBC iPlayer now. Beyond Paradise and Death in Paradise both air on BBC One and stream on BBC iPlayer.
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.