Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise’s Ben Miller reveals difficulty leaving baby while filming in Caribbean
The children's author has reflected on his life since the BBC show and why he chose to quit as the season 14's finale airs on 28 March
Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise’s first detective Ben Miller has remembered how hard it was leaving his newborn baby Harrison to film the BBC show in 2011 in the Caribbean.
More than 10 years have flashed by since the 59-year-old actor said goodbye to his character Detective Inspector Richard Poole in 2014. As the 14th season of the BBC show nears its finale on 28 March, the Diary of a Puss In Boots author has reflected on why he chose to quit Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise and how his life is “incredibly rewarding” now as a writer of children’s books.
He told Yahoo UK: “[My second son] Harrison was born in December. First day filming [I find out my wife Jessica is pregnant], 10 months later he’s born and I’m going back [to film] when he’s three months old and I went back to the Caribbean to do season two.
“So I didn’t see him from when he was three months old to when he was nine months old, so I missed six months of his life when he was a baby.”
Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise filming
Miller expanded: “It was really quite difficult. [Having a baby,] it wasn’t what we planned at all. It was completely unplanned. There wasn’t really anything I could do. I was signed up to do the show and stuff but it was kind of amazing for the show because my character in the show really doesn’t want to be there.
“And there was a level on which I loved the show and I thought the show was brilliant but I didn’t want to be there. I wanted to be at home with my pregnant wife.
“So I think you can tell, I think a lot of the reason that the show works so well is it’s really genuine. You can see I’m not pretending I don’t want to be there. I really don’t want to be there! I think that really helps the comedy of it. I really do.
“People can feel that there’s something real about it and I think it really, really works. Of course it was brilliantly written, it’s brilliantly cast, it’s an amazing show and all those other kind of things that helps.
“But for my tiny part in it, I think the fact that genuinely there was a big part of me that wanted to go back to England, it really helped. It’s like the method acting you’d never wish on yourself.”
Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise detectives
His last scenes on Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise played out on our screens in 2014. After being contracted for two series, Miller stayed on to see his character DI Poole help new detective Humphrey Goodman (played by Kris Marshall) solve his own m.u.r.d.e.r when he was k.i.l.l.e.d by one of his university friends in series three episode one.
Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise is on its fifth detective now, with Don Gilet playing the irritable DI Mervin Wilson. Marshall, Ardal O’Hanlon and Ralf Little have also all served time as the detective solving m.u.r.d.e.r.s on the Caribbean island between 2014 and 2024.
Losing the lead actor in a role can often be a weakness of a show but Miller thinks it’s part of the secret to success for the BBC’s Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise.
“One of the reasons for the show’s success is it keeps moving forward and I think that’s an important part of it.” Miller says. “I love that episode [where DI Richard Poole is m.u.r.d.e.r.e.d]. It’s so clever that I solve my own m.u.r.d.e.r from beyond the grave. Then the writing in that final episode could stand up against any other show. It’s so clever to have that idea that he gets m.u.r.d.e.r.e.d and he helps the new detectives solve the crime; it’s great.”
Miller did make a cameo return as a ghost in scenes for the 100th episode that aired in 2021 and he was reunited with Don Warrington who plays commissioner Selwyn Patterson. Warrington is one of the two remaining original cast members of Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise.
“I’m very, very fond of Don and I think he has been brilliant in the show hasn’t he?” Miller said. “He took me to one of the new restaurants on the beach and we had a really lovely lunch together when I was there [in the Caribbean filming] and he caught me up on what I’ve missed for the last 10 years!”
Life after Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise
Miller’s life after Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise has been “incredibly rewarding”. In fact, having children transformed his career too in a way he had never imagined. Recently back from Australia where he was filming the second series of Austin, which tells the story of a bestselling but cancelled author (played by Miller) who is approached by a 20-something young man claiming to be his son. So Miller is still very much in the acting spheres but he also has branched out into the world of writing children’s fiction.
The actor-turned-writer is father to three children: Jackson (Sonny), Harrison and Lana. First he started writing stories for his eldest son, now 19, whom he shares with his ex-wife Belinda Stewart-Wilson. Miller then went onto write stories for his youngest two Harrison, born in 2011, and Lana, born in 2015, too — both of whom he raises with his wife Jessica at their home in the Cotswolds.
“It was definitely having kids [that sparked my interest in writing],” he said. “I loved stories, I loved reading when I was little, and having kids and seeing the books that they were reading and loving reading with them, reminded me how much I loved reading when I was a kid. Then feeling like I’d like to try and write some stories for them… That got me off running, really and then I discovered I just loved the world of children’s books.”
His children have made appearances in his books too. Miller’s latest book Diary of a Puss in Boots tells the story of cat Mittens who is based on a combination of his sister’s cat Harvey and his friend’s cat Archie.
Miller has relished becoming a children’s author. He added: “I loved the world of book festivals and going to schools and I just find it really, really rewarding because when a kid comes up to you after an event and they say that they weren’t into reading until they read one of your books, you can’t imagine how that feels, especially if books meant a lot to you as a child. But I think reading is one of those things that seems to really set kids up for life.
“None of us are born being able to read, you forget as well as you’re older, how hard it was to learn to read because you have to rewire your brain. And if I could write some stories that kids really want to read that they think, ‘Yeah, it’s worth it’ to sit down and struggle and get through the story, I think that’s incredibly rewarding… Plus, I get to be a kid!”
Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise’s finale airs on 28 March at 9pm on BBC One.
