Return to Paradise star issues concerning update on BBC show’s future
Return to Paradise is coming back (Image: Red Planet / BBC Studios / John Platt)
The cast of Return to Paradise have opened up on how they worried about the future of the popular BBC crime drama as a woman was introduced as the lead. In the second series, we see DI Clarke, played by Anna Samson — the first lead female detective in the Death In Paradise universe — still stuck in her hometown of Dolphin Cove, tasked with solving more challenging cases.
She is also seen grappling with her ex-fiancé, Glenn, played by Australian actor Tai Hara, 35, saying he still has feelings for her. Despite this, Mackenzie gets back working with her senior constable, Colin Cartwright, played by English actor and comedian Lloyd Griffith, 41, in the lab, to examine a key piece of evidence in their latest investigation. But Mackenzie’s attempt to ignore Glenn’s upcoming wedding is challenged when Colin helps to arrange his stag party. But Anna explained that the show is about much more than the drama, as she shared: “The show is, in a lot of ways, about the idea of home, what home is, not just where it is, but what it is. I think when we first meet Mackenzie, she has figured out that home is London, and her job is in London, and all she wants to do is get back home. And that’s the tension of season one.
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Return to Paradise cast share their thoughts on BBC drama (Image: Red Planet / BBC Studios / John Platt)
“But in season two, there’s not so much of her needing to get back somewhere, but ‘Oh, I’m not sure if I’ve ever known what home actually means’.
“And home might not be a place, it might not be a postcode, it might not be a country, it might not be a job, it could be a person, but it also might actually be something internal that’s not to do with anything external.
“And I don’t think she would articulate it in the way I just did, but I think that’s what’s going on for her internally.”
While fans gear up for the exciting new series, Tai told the press that “nothing is a sure thing”. He said: “There was definitely anticipation and excitement around it [the show].
“But nothing is a sure thing in this industry. We were all very well aware of that, but there is such a huge fan base and love for the Paradise Paraverse back in Australia.”
