BBC fans have celebrated the return of the Death in Paradise spin-off show, Return to Paradise, as the first female detective took on a new case.
The new crime series is set in the heart of Australia and follows DCI Mackenzie Clarke (played by Anna Samson), who is called back to her hometown of Dolphin Cove.
The case begins when a real estate salesman is found dead on a beach during a surfing competition which sent the town into chaos.
It didn’t take long before fans flooded to X – formerly known as Twitter – to react to the brilliant performance from the new DCI.
One viewer penned: “an icon already #returntoparadise.” Another person wrote: “Definitely a perfect fit with the other lead detectives in the @deathinparadise universe in #ReturnToParadise.” A third person chimed in: “Just a girl doing girly things like figuring out a murder #ReturnToParadise.”
After returning to her hometown, Mackenzie is forced to work with her estranged former lover, a distant forensic pathologist, and old colleagues to solve the murder.
The new series brings an Aussie twist to the Death in Paradise series, with Anna Samson leading as DI Mackenzie Clarke. She’s joined by Tai Hara (Home and Away) as her ex-fiancé Glenn, whom Mackenzie left at the altar.
The ensemble cast also features Lloyd Griffith (Ted Lasso), Catherine McClements (Total Control), Celia Ireland (Wentworth), Andrea Demetriades (Mother and Son), and Aaron McGrath (Gold Diggers).
In an exclusive interview with The Express, Anna expressed her delight at his involvement in the spin-off.
The actress shared: “We can expect Ardal to make more than one appearance than just in the first episode because he plays my boss back at the Metropolitan Police.
“I am in constant contact with him, trying to figure out when I can get out of Dolphin Cove and come back to London. So he’s quite an important character to Mackenzie, he is her boss and someone she is friends with and respects.”
She continued: “So the show, without being a carbon copy of the original, has lots of tips of the hat to the original, not just with the characters but even certain shots are paying homage to the original, like on the beach with the suitcase and not [wearing] an appropriate outfit for the weather. That is certainly a wink and a nod to the original.