List of Death in Paradise characters

This article lists characters from the BBC crime drama Death in Paradise, which began airing in 2011, originally starring Ben Miller, Sara Martins and Danny John-Jules.

Character Series
Series 1 Series 2 Series 3 Series 4 Series 5
Richard Poole Ben Miller  
Camille Bordey Sara Martins  
Fidel Best Gary Carr  
Dwayne Myers Danny John-Jules
Catherine Bordey Élizabeth Bourgine
Selwyn Patterson Don Warrington
Humphrey Goodman   Kris Marshall
Florence Cassell   Joséphine Jobert
JP Hooper   Tobi Bakare

Table of character appearances

Character Actor Series/Episodes Episode count dagger Years
DI Richard Poole Ben Miller 1.1-3.1 17 2011–2014
DS Camille Bordey Sara Martins 1.1-4.4 28 2011–2015
Officer Dwayne Myers Danny John-Jules 1.1- 40 2011-
Sergeant Fidel Best Gary Carr 1.1-3.8 24 2011–2014
Commissioner Selwyn Patterson Don Warrington 1.1- 23 2011-
Harry the Lizard Animated 1.1- Various 2011-
Catherine Bordey Elizabeth Bourgine 1.2- 32 2011-
Aidan Miles Adrian Dunbar 1.7-1.8 2 2011
DI Humphrey Goodman Kris Marshall 3.1- 24 2014-
Sally Goodman Morven Christie 3.1, 3.8 2 2014
DS Florence Cassell Josephine Jobert 4.1- 16 2015-
Officer JP Hooper Tobi Bakare 4.5- 12 2015-
Martin Goodman QC James Fox[lower-alpha 1] 4.7-4.8 2 2015
Rosey Fabrice Fola Evans Akingbola 5.3, 5.5-5.6, 5.8 4 2016-

dagger Episode count is as of episode 5.8.

Current characters

Characters currently starring in the programme, in standard credit order:

Detective Inspector Humphrey Goodman

Humphrey Goodman
Death in Paradise character
Portrayed by Kris Marshall
Duration 2014-
First appearance Series 3, Episode 1
Classification Main cast
Profile
Occupation Detective Inspector
Main article: Humphrey Goodman

Humphrey is assigned to Saint Marie after the murder of D.I. Richard Poole at the start of Series 3. Clues from Poole's investigation helped Goodman reveal the motive and the killer's identity; Goodman commented that Poole had 'solved his own murder.' Goodman stayed on in Saint Marie after his wife Sally announced she would not be joining him on the Caribbean island. He became the chief inspector on the island, and took to Poole's old habit of announcing the murderer in front of all the suspects and his police team. Though he is very clumsy, often forgetting things or finding himself with nothing to take notes on, he has a knack at being able to solve murders instantly, looking at the meaning of small details, much like his predecessor. He embraces Caribbean life much more than Poole did. He fell in love with his detective sergeant, Camille Bordey, often coming close to revealing his feelings for her. He tried to stop her leaving when she requested a job in Paris, but conceded. He shared a passionate kiss with her just before she left the island. Her successor, Florence Cassell, also managed to get along with Goodman, often sharing jokes and they dedicate a drink to Camille after their first solved case.

Officer Dwayne Myers

Dwayne Myers
Death in Paradise character
Portrayed by Danny John-Jules
Duration 2011-
First appearance Series 1, Episode 1
Classification Main cast
Profile
Occupation Officer

Dwayne is the longest-standing officer of the Saint Marie police force, but utterly lacks ambition; he has complete faith in his seniors and perhaps too good an understanding of the criminal world on the island. Dwayne often uses unlawful means to get his job done, and has an eye for the ladies, sometimes getting distracted, even by his senior DS Florence Cassell. He is the go-to man for any investigations into the shadier aspects of Saint Marie. It is revealed he has a sister, who locked him in a trunk for three hours when he was five years old; this led to Dwayne developing a secret fear of the dark. As of Series 4, episode 5, he is the last remaining original team member apart from Commissioner Selwyn Patterson.

Detective Sergeant Florence Cassell

Florence Cassell
Death in Paradise character
Portrayed by Joséphine Jobert
Duration 2015-
First appearance Series 4, Episode 1
Classification Main cast
Profile
Occupation Detective Sergeant

Cassell replaces Fidel as Sergeant at the start of Series 4, and later is promoted to Detective Sergeant when Camille Bordey leaves midway through the series. She works efficiently and gets along with all the team, establishing a strong connection with Goodman when she is promoted. She is sent a note by Camille in order to know how to 'control' Goodman, and they both drink to Camille after she helps solve her first case as Detective Sergeant. She is very intelligent and always observes suspects carefully for any clues.

Officer JP Hooper

JP Hooper
Death in Paradise character
Portrayed by Tobi Bakare
Duration 2015-
First appearance Series 4, Episode 5
Classification Main cast
Profile
Occupation Officer

Replaces Florence Cassell as a new police officer in series 4, episode 5 when she is promoted. He is 21, and the youngest member of the team. He is taken under the wing of Dwayne - a police officer who Hooper says he heard all about at police training college. He initially ended up watering the plants on his first day, because of a lack of things to do. He slept in the police cells temporarily because he could not find a place to live. Goodman found him one night, amidst much screaming and shock; Catherine, who had a spare room after Camille's departure, invited him to stay with her, an offer JP enthusiastically took up. He has a brother, who, when JP was three years old, pushed him into a swimming pool, leading to JP developing a fear of water. In series five he meets Rosey Fabrice (a girl who was in the year above him in school and he had a crush on) when she is a suspect in a murder during a charity fashion show. They soon begin dating and fall in love. Eventually, after being in a relationship for several months, JP proposes to Rosey and she gladly accepts. In the final episode of Series 5, JP and Rosey got married.

Catherine Bordey

Catherine Bordey
Death in Paradise character
Portrayed by Élizabeth Bourgine
Duration 2011-
First appearance Series 1, Episode 2
Classification supporting cast
Profile
Occupation Landlady; bar owner/waitress

Camille's mother and owner of a bar where the police team often chat about the case over a drink. She makes a particularly good cup of tea, according to DI Richard Poole, although generally their relationship with each other is strained. She raised Camille as a single mother and is therefore very close to her; she does not react badly when Camille confirms she is thinking of leaving, in fact, she supports Camille and respects her choices, urging her to do whatever makes her happy. When Camille leaves, she has a spare room and lets the homeless JP stay in it when Goodman finds out he has nowhere to live and is sleeping in the police cells.

Commissioner Selwyn Patterson

Selwyn Patterson
Death in Paradise character
Portrayed by Don Warrington
Duration 2011-
First appearance Series 1, Episode 1
Classification supporting cast
Profile
Occupation Commissioner

The island's police commissioner, who has risen through the ranks to become Saint Marie's top policeman, in charge of staffing. He advises the team on cases of particular difficulty or of political or social interest where the island's most notable figures are involved. It was revealed in episode 3.3 that Judge Ann Stone (Josette Simon) put him in jail for a day over parking fines.

Past characters

Characters who have previously starred in a main role in the programme, in standard credit order:

Detective Inspector Richard Poole

Richard Poole
Death in Paradise character
Portrayed by Ben Miller
Duration 2011-14
First appearance Series 1, Episode 1
Last appearance Series 3, Episode 1
Classification main cast
Profile
Occupation Detective Inspector

A British inspector assigned to the island to investigate the previous inspector's murder, Poole was instructed to remain on the island as the new police detective. Despite his distaste for the island and inexperience with tropical weather - to the point where he continued to wear his old suits - he often showed a useful knack for making deductive leaps based on minimal information and apparently random events, and favoured making arrests by addressing all the suspects at once before identifying the killer. In series 2 he grew slightly more relaxed. He recommended Fidel for the sergeant's exam. Poole briefly returned to London, but in spite of his distaste for Saint Marie, he chose to return. Richard was murdered in the first episode of Series 3, at an on-island reunion of Cambridge university classmates, by Helen Reid, when he threatened to expose her identity theft, and was replaced by DI Humphrey Goodman.

Detective Sergeant Camille Bordey

Camille Bordey
Death in Paradise character
Portrayed by Sara Martins
Duration 2011-15
First appearance Series 1, Episode 1
Last appearance Series 4, Episode 4
Classification main cast
Profile
Occupation Detective Sergeant
Main article: Camille Bordey

A former undercover investigator, she was assigned to the precinct because her cover was blown when she was arrested during Poole's first investigation. She was the team's best investigator after Poole, often handling the computer work. Initially, she and Poole did not get along as a result of a culture clash. Over time their relationship became a friendship, and showed some hints of romance - when he briefly left the island, she admitted she admired him considerably, and was pleased when he chose to return. His murder in the opening scenes of Series 3 clearly devastated her and she was unsure about his successor, DI Humphrey Goodman, although she warmed to him over time. She was then offered an undercover job in Paris, and she decided to leave. As she left, she kissed Humphrey. She had not previously expressed emotions for him, although he had for her.

Sergeant Fidel Best

Fidel Best
Death in Paradise character
Portrayed by Gary Carr
Duration 2011-14
First appearance Series 1, Episode 1
Last appearance Series 3, Episode 8
Classification main cast
Profile
Occupation Sergeant; Officer

Young and hard-working, Fidel is married to a woman called Juliette and has a daughter named Rosie who was born in the Series 1 finale. He is put forward for his sergeant's exams by his boss, DI Richard Poole, in series 2, in recognition of his hard work. He passes them, and officially becomes a sergeant. Fidel often gets stressed and sticks to protocol, whereas Dwayne is the complete opposite. Nevertheless, the two become great friends. At the start of series 4, in a phone call between him and Dwayne (his voice does not feature; the conversation is shown from Dwayne's end), it is revealed that he has been promoted and is now working on the neighbouring island of St. Lucia.

Recurring characters

Characters who have featured in more than one episode of the programme, yet are not part of the main cast, in chronological order of appearance:

Further pages

Notes

  1. James Fox was not credited for his appearance in episode 4.7.

References

    External links

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.