There’s a brand new detective in Dᴇᴀᴛʜ In Paradise this Christmas as EastEndersand Shetland star Don Gilet joins the cast as DI Mervin Wilson — and in the grand tradition of new Inspectors on the island of Saint Marie, he doesn’t get off to the best of starts…
Since the departure of DI Neville Parker (Ralf Little), the rest of the team has kept things ticking over at the police station. When a holidaymaker is murdered while dressed as Santa, however, Commissioner Selwyn Patterson (Don Warrington) realizes that he needs to step up his search for a new DI.
As luck would have it, he’s informed that a detective from London named Mervin Wilson is currently on holiday in Saint Marie, so DI Wilson is seconded to the team to help with the investigation. But DI Wilson has had a horrible time on the island, and is desperate to get home — so he’s not at all happy to be forced to stick around!
We caught up with Don to find out what it was like to join the long-running crime drama and about his link to Ghosts actor Jim Howick…
Don Gilet interview for the Dᴇᴀᴛʜ In Paradise Christmas special 2024
Welcome to the show, Don! How did you feel when you found out you’d got the part?
“Well, I can’t deny it was mixed feelings — because how could you not want to do this job, first and foremost? One minute I was auditioning and not along after it’s ‘you’ve got the part’, so it’s like a fist pump and then, ‘oh wow, that’s quite a big thing to accept’. There’s that sense of excitement coupled with trepidation, like when you go onto a big ride at a funfair and you know it’s scary but you’re going to do it anyway and you’ll be better for it once you come off! So I was really looking forward to it, but of course, it’s a massive job, and I found out just how big it was when I was doing it — people were telling me, ‘do you realise what job you’re doing, do you realise how much this is loved?’ Yes, I do now – thanks for telling me! So yeah, absolutely thrilled to bits that they took me on. I hope they don’t regret it!”
What can you tell us about the Christmas case this year?
“From Mervin’s point of view, it’s a baffling one. Three victims have been shot at the same time, with the same gun, in three different places — that’s irresistible to him, it’s going to get his synapses firing off, that’s how he works. He likes the most mysterious, mind-boggling things because it keeps his mind active. It’s a great episode as an introduction to him; the sort of thing that might make other people go, ‘well, this is impossible’ has him thinking ‘well, it’s interesting but it’s not impossible, I’m going to find a way to crack this’ — although it’s very frustrating when he gets to a point where he doesn’t think he can! He very much wants to do things his own way — even back in London, nobody works the way he does, but he’s more suited to a London pace of life. Everything in Saint Marie runs counter to how things are supposed to be done as far as he’s concerned, and his methods rub up against the way things are done on Saint Marie. I think that’s going to be entertaining to watch, how he connects — or doesn’t connect — with his colleagues. Also, as far as Mervin himself goes, there are other reasons why he is on the island — but you’ll have to watch to find out!”
Stuart (Marcus Brigstocke) is the killer’s first victim (Image credit: BBC/Red Planet Pictures/Philippe Virapin)
Were you excited to work with all the guest stars in the special?
“That’s what I love about this show, the quality of the actors that it attracts. I’ve worked with Angela Griffin and I’ve watched her career, I’ve done radio with Marcus Brigstocke, and Jim Howick, I love watching him work — and I also love the fact that, many moons before, I actually taught Jim at drama school! So I was in great company with those guests.”
Dᴇᴀᴛʜ In Paradise is famous for its big denouement scenes where the DI gathers all the suspects together to reveal whodunnit. What was that like to film?
“It was a lot of words — a lot of words! Looking at all the past detectives, they seem to be doing it so brilliantly, and one of my first thoughts was, ‘how do you guys do it?’ And then I realised how they do it: with a lot of hard work! Whatever your methods are, you just absorb those words, and if it’s set out well, they will eventually stay in my head. There’s no finer feeling than when they say, ‘it’s a wrap’ and I’ve done all of them, and then the editor puts it together and makes it look absolutely brilliant.”
The cast of the Dᴇᴀᴛʜ In Paradise Christmas special 2024 (Image credit: BBC)
Did you get to explore Guadeloupe, where Dᴇᴀᴛʜ In Paradise is filmed?
“All my colleagues, bless them, at some time played travel agent to me: ‘you must try this restaurant, you must go here’. I mean, it is paradise, there’s no other word for it. But I had this feeling of responsibility, of all the time I’ve got, to plough it into this Christmas special and the subsequent eight episodes, so there’s just a part of me that goes, ‘it’s there, it’s beautiful, and I’ll get to it at some point’ — much to their frustration! When we wrap for the night, I’m off home to look at the scripts, because there is so much work to do. But next time, if Mervin is still around, that’s when I’ll dip my toe into the sea!”
Will you be watching the show live when it airs?
“I guess I will — it’s a great connecting thing to feel like I’m watching this with the nation and with my colleagues, going ‘look what we’ve done!’. But it will be that kind of Doctor Who-style watching it through my fingers when my bits come on, because I’m not a big fan of watching myself! So I’m looking forward to it, but nervously, but I’m going to take an hour and a half out of my life on that day, and just watch and enjoy!”
The Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise Christmas special 2024 will air on Sunday, December 22 at 8.30 pm on BBC One in a Christmas TV highlight. It will also be available on BBC iPlayer.
It will head to BritBox in the US on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2024. In Australia, the Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise Christmas special lands on Britbox on Monday, December 23.
