Kris Marshall explains reason he’ll star in Beyond Paradise longer than Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise

Kris Marshall has a lot of love for Humphrey Goodman, the detective he started playing back in 2014 in Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise and now has portrayed in Beyond Paradise for three seasons (so far).

Speaking with Yahoo UK and other publications during a set visit for series 3, the actor shared how he hopes to play the character for years to come compared to his three season run on. This is because he can do a lot more with him in Beyond Paradise than he feels he was able to in Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise.

“I’m still finding stuff with Humphrey,” Marshall says. “And I think as long as that goes on and as long as Humphrey evolves [that’s good] because when I started playing Humphrey it was 11 years ago so the character has to grow with me as I get older.

“As I get more mature —I’m not getting mature— he has to grow with me as I get older. He has to evolve because now I’m in my fifties so I can’t play the same character that Humphrey was when he was 40, which is when I started.

“As long as the character keeps evolving to fit the [person] that plays him, as long as there’s not too much discrepancy between the two, then that’s fine. I think if ever I thought that I was becoming too old to play that then I would say ‘that’s enough’.”

Reflecting on what makes the BBC spinoff better for him, he adds: “But with Beyond Paradise we deal with more of a personal journey than necessarily would do in Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise, and because that personal journey involves him and Martha and their journey as a childless couple, their path to blended parenthood as they try and work their way through that, that to me works fine.”

Marshall’s enthusiasm to keep starring in the show is mirrored by his co-star Zahra Ahmadi, who stars as DS Esther Williams, because she feels the spinoff can go on for as long as Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise.

Speaking in another interview ahead of the show’s series 3 return, Ahmadi told Yahoo UK and others: “I think it absolutely has the capacity to do that. I mean, there’s so much we haven’t even scratched the surface on yet with characters, and then with various crimes and cases.

“I would absolutely love to do 14 series of it, there’s just nothing like it. I get to be at home which is a real joy, and I get to work with the most amazing cast and crew I’ve ever worked with.

“I absolutely love working with Kris, Dylan [Lewellyn], and Felicity [Montagu], with Barbara [Flynn], with Sally [Bretton], Jaime [Bamber]. We have a lovely time, we’ve got the best producer in Lindsay Hughes. It’s just so joyous, so yes we would like to [keep going for 14 series].”

Beyond Paradise series 3 premieres on BBC One at 8pm, with episodes on BBC iPlayer.