Beyond Paradise team ‘facing an existential threat’ in series 2

The future of DI Humphrey Goodman and his team hangs in the balance in Beyond Paradise series 2 as they will be dealing with the very real prospect of being closed down, the cast has teased.

Speaking to Yahoo UK and other publications, Kris Marshall and his co-stars Zahra Ahmadi, Felicity Montagu, and Dylan Llewellyn shared what fans of the BBC crime drama can expect in the new episodes. They explained that while the team are still busy solving cases in Shipton Abbott, there are other issues raised by CS Charlie Woods (Jade Harrison) over their performance compared to others.

Marshall's Humphrey is set to be at loggerheads with his superior over the threat the team face, with the actor sharing that the small Devonshire force are "facing an existential threat".

"As we saw him in Death in Paradise, he's not amazingly good with his immediate superiors," the actor explained. "He's not brilliant with that hierarchy, he doesn't function well with that hierarchy and he finds it quite amusing and hard work.

"But obviously he has to retain that professionalism of subordination. The police station is facing an existential threat because, as is common with many areas of life and business these days, everything is on a one way track to being homogenised and centralised.

"That kind of removes the soul of community policing, and so that's obviously something that's close to Humphrey's heart. Because of that the station house, their mini quirky station house in Shipton Abbott, is directly under threat from being assimilated into The Hub, the sort of policing hub. So that's obviously a bone of contention and it's a running theme during the series.

Read more: Beyond Paradise's Kris Marshall inspired by late mum for foster storyline

"How that resolves itself you'll just have to find out, but I think it's an ongoing thing and it's definitely a bit of contention between Humphrey and his superior, who he finds utterly charming but also amusing in equal measure."

Reflecting on what this could mean for the team, Montagu said she believed that Margo would always have a place on the force. She reflected: "I don't think Margo regards her job as answering the phones. I think Margo thinks that she is the central engine of that station.

"So I don't think it would have occurred to Margo if they moved. I think Margo probably is in for a very big shock if they had to go to the central station because maybe Margo would be one of the first to go. But she is very useful in the station.

"Even if you go to headquarters, there's always got to be someone in the headquarters to answer the phone. But I think Margo has such a huge, huge sense of confidence that she thinks she's needed, and I think she is needed. I think she's wanted in that station."

The events of the series will also see PC Kelby Hartford further develop and mature, Llewellyn said: "I think he surprises people and he's always got it in him, he's brave and he's tenacious and I think that just carries on and he builds and matures.

"And even though he can be a bit naive, he's not stupid. He will be incredibly useful to the team. He's a big cog in the team, I think, and does a lot of like the grind, the dirty work like catching the bad guys. He's just a lovely character, and also you see the soft, vulnerable side of him, especially with him and Margo and I'm excited for people to see that."

Ahmadi, who plays Humphrey's right-hand DS Esther Williams, will also be dealing with challenges of her own this series, as her daughter Zoe (Melina Sinadinou) is set to uncover a secret of hers. Teasing what is to come, the actor shared: "I've got to speak in code. There's some some things have happened in their past, and Esther has dealt with it in a certain way, many years ago now, and [she] thought it was all resolved and left it at that.

Read more: Everything you need to know about Beyond Paradise series 2

"But of course Zoe is now becoming an adult, so she's exploring the conversation she's had with her mum and taking them forward in her own direction, which brings up quite big [things] for us as to whether or not she reveals her secrets to her daughter."

Ahmadi added: "That's all I can say. I've been told not to talk specifically about it!"

Beyond Paradise series 2 premieres on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Friday, 22 March.

Watch the trailer for Beyond Paradise series 2: