The BBC has confirmed the guest stars for this year’s Death in Paradise Christmas special.
The 2024 festive outing for the murder mystery drama will feature Ghosts‘ Jim Howick, Waterloo Road‘s Angela Griffin, Happy Valley‘s Steven Hartley, Stupid!‘s Marcus Brigstocke, The Damned United‘s Elizabeth Carling, Supacell‘s Michael Salami, and Doctors‘ Dex Lee.
Some first-look photos for the special have also been released.
It’s not only these lots making their Death in Paradise debuts, as it’s the first episode for former EastEnders star Don Gilet’s new lead character DI Mervin Wilson.
Regular actors like Don Warrington, Danny John-Jules, Shantol Jackson, Ginny Holder, and Élizabeth Bourgine are all back, too.
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The official synopsis for the special reads: “Londoner Mervin Wilson ruffles some feathers as he clashes with the island’s way of life.
“But he quickly sinks his teeth into one of the team’s most puzzling murder cases yet: three men, all unconnected apart from the fact that they’re dressed as Santa Claus, and seemingly all shot with the exact same gun at the exact same time.
“As Mervin wrangles this impossible murder, his colleagues struggle with their new boss’s unusual working methods.
“And Dwayne’s Christmas with his father doesn’t exactly go to plan…”
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The Christmas special will lead into the 2025 season, with Gilet’s Mervin.
Meanwhile, the newest spin-off Return to Paradise, which is set in Australia, is premiering in the UK in just a few days.
Starring former Home and Away actor Anna Samson as DI Mackenzie Clark, Return to Paradise sees her character heading back home to Australia, six years after a difficult departure.
Samson has promised that viewers can expect a series that’s “delightful and… warm like the original, but it’s not a carbon copy and I think that’s a good thing”.
And the Beyond Paradise spin-off – which follows DI Humphrey Goodman in Devon – is also airing a festive special over the Christmas period, and will be back for a third season next year.
The Death in Paradise Christmas special will air on BBC One and stream on iPlayer in December, and return for a new season early next year.
Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he’s covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small.
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