I love Beyond Paradise but the Christmas Special was too dark and ridiculous – BBC needs to work out what the show is
Although not unenjoyable, Beyond Paradise's Christmas special required suspending some disbelief
I’M a huge Beyond Paradise fan – but if the Christmas Special is anything to go by, the BBC hit needs to be clearer in its storytelling.
Beyond Paradise reinvents Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise’s successful premise in a coastal Devon village.
Having reintroduced fan favourite Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall), the programme follows his adventures with a new team and familiar tropes.
I found this Christmas episode, for the most part, lacked festive fun expected at this time of year.
Although enjoyable, Christmas almost seemed incidental to the episode’s primary story.
This was essentially a ghost story and arguably could have worked at Halloween.
Much of the runtime went to solving the haunting – which only Humphrey really took seriously.
The ending also presented somewhat of a problem, at least in my opinion.
After scarce set-up, Humphrey pulled the exact outlandish answer out of thin air.
He not only worked out the culprit from minimal information, but presumed their knowledge to back up how they did it.
This required viewers to suspend some serious disbelief.
For me, the secondary storyline most evoked warm Christmas feelings.
Humphrey and Martha (Sally Bretton) welcomed teenager Jaiden (Austin Taylor) as a foster placement.
At first Jaiden was very reserved and uninterested – always on the phone and kept to himself.
As the “Paradise” shows have proven, they excel at digging deeper into a closed-off character and exploring what’s going on.
Last but not least, PC Kelby (Dylan Llewellyn) was on the hunt for a stolen mannequin.
It had been intended to be used as Mary in the church’s Nativity scene.
In classic form, Humphrey pulled all these strands together by the end.
Although even the characters may not have predicted the outcome.
Guest stars include Mark Heap, Seann Walsh, Rosalind Adler, Austin Taylor, Chizzy Akudolu and Tamla Kari.
Beyond Paradise continues on BBC One and iPlayer.
