Yahoo News Death in Paradise season 8: Everything you need to know
It's one of British TV's finest laid-back treats, and with audiences figures regularly in the 8-9 million range, it'll be no surprise to hear that Death in Paradise is returning to BBC One for an eighth series.
The Beeb announced it'd be recommissioning the Caribbean-set crime procedural while the seventh series was still midway through its run. Fantastic news for all concerned – except, of course, the residents of Saint Marie, a few of whom will soon be dead.
Here's everything you need to know about the next series, including who's returning for the new episodes and *sob* who's exiting.
Death in Paradise season 8 cast: Who's starring in the new episodes?
Ardal O'Hanlon – who's featured as Death in Paradise's third lead detective since Kris Marshall (who himself replaced Ben Miller) quit the show in 2017 – will be back for his second full series as DI Jack Mooney.
Joining him will be fellow series regulars Joséphine Jobert as Florence Cassell and Tobi Bakare as JP Hooper.
Don Warrington – who's featured in every series since the first – will of course be returning as Commissioner Selwyn Patterson, with fellow series veteran Élizabeth Bourgine also back as restaurateur-turned Mayor Catherine Bordey.
Now onto the bad news... Danny John-Jules, who's played Officer Dwayne Myers since the show's first episode, will not be returning for series eight. "We're very sad to have said goodbye to Danny, whose brilliant performance as Dwayne has helped make the show such a success," said series producer Tim Key. "We wish Danny all the very best and look forward to working with him again."
At the time of his exit announcement, producers Red Planet Pictures said John-Jules wanted to leave the show "on a high".
He later signed up as a contestant on the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing and while you might assume the two were connected, John-Jules insisted this wasn't the case. "I left Death in Paradise because I wanted to get back on stage," he told TV Times. "I needed a bit more razzmatazz in my life, and then along came Strictly!"
Related: Death in Paradise: Why are we still so addicted to BBC One's laid-back treat?
Replacing Dwayne will be Officer Ruby Patterson, the Commissioner's niece, played by actress Shyko Amos. Fresh out of the academy, Ruby immediately rubs some of her co-workers the wrong way as she discovers that policing the island doesn't leave much room for error.
"There is nothing quite like Death in Paradise on TV and it hasn't quite sunk in yet that I've joined such a massively popular show," said A Very English Scandal's Amos. "It's given me a butterfly or two but I'm very excited.
"Officer Ruby Patterson is a bundle of joy! I am very excited for Death in Paradise viewers to experience her as the new member of the already amazing law enforcement team of Saint Marie."
Death in Paradise season 8, episode 1: What's going to happen next?
Little is known about what the eighth series of Death in Paradise holds in store, other than that Dwayne's absence will be addressed on-screen (though John-Jules won't return for an exit storyline) and that the addition of Ruby "presents the team with a challenge or two".
Much as we love it, though, the show does have something of a formula. Each episode will begin with a pre-credits sequence showing the events leading up to a murder, and possibly the discovery of a body, also introducing us to the latest batch of guest characters played by familiar faces off the telly.
Jack will unravel the mystery and finger the killer (tee hee) in a dramatic dénouement that revisits the murder in flashback, and afterwards, the team will all toast a job well done. (The final episode of the series will probably also include a sub-plot where Jack is tempted to return to the UK for either personal or professional reasons, before ultimately opting to remain in Saint Marie for more sleuthing in the sun.)
Death in Paradise season 8 air date: When will it air?
Filming on series eight began on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe – the real Saint Marie – in April 2018.
Every series of Death in Paradise since the first has been comprised of eight episodes, so while the episode count for this latest series hasn't been officially confirmed, we'd be very surprised if it changed from the standard.
With the exception of that first 2011 series, which went out in the Autumn, every other series of Death in Paradise has kicked off in the first or second week of the year, so you can expect series eight to likewise launch sometime in 2019's first fortnight.
Death in Paradise season 8: Will it be streaming on Netflix?
Currently only the first five series of Death in Paradise are streaming on Netflix UK.
Fingers crossed that more episodes will be added soon – including the upcoming eighth series. (Episodes up to and including the most recent seventh series can be purchased via Amazon Prime Video.)
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