Death in Paradise's Ralf Little speaks out on Ben Miller's exit

Death in Paradise star Ralf Little has spoken on the exit of original show star Ben Miller.

The actor plays the current lead detective DI Neville Parker in the hit BBC series, following in the footsteps of Miller's Richard Poole, as well as his successors Kris Marshall and Ardal O'Hanlon.

Poole's death at the start of series 3 started the tradition of detectives changing over every few series, with Little suggesting in a new interview that the "happy accident" of his departure has kept the show "fresh".

ben miller as di richard poole, death in paradise

BBC

"I think [for] Ben Miller, who was the first [lead role], it was never the intention that he was going to leave after series two," he told The Michael Ball Show on BBC Radio 2. "I think he had a young kid who he wanted to be there for, which totally makes sense.

"So, his character was the victim in the first episode of series three. Which is an incredibly bold thing to go, 'This is our beloved character and our beloved lead of the show, let's have him with an ice pick sticking out of his chest in episode one'.

"Then Kris Marshall went out to solve his murder and that is how this tradition of, sort of, changing the detective started."

di neville parker, death in paradise christmas special

BBC / Red Planet / Denis Guyenon

Little added: "What turned out to be something by necessity turned out to be a really happy accident. It's really kept the show fresh and changing faces and so on."

The star also compared to recasting to regenerations on Doctor Who, joking that he keeps "suggesting they regenerate, but no-one's gone for that yet".

The star further reflected on the importance of his role to viewers, describing it as "a huge responsibility and one that I, kind of, relish to have been entrusted with carrying a show".

Death in Paradise is currently in the middle of its 11th series, with plenty of twists and turns already occurring for Parker and co.

Death in Paradise airs on Fridays at 9pm on BBC One.

Death in Paradise

BBC Death In Paradise - Series 11 [DVD] [2022]

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Memmo Request a personalised video message from Ralf Little

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Credit: Memmo/Ralf Little

BBC Death In Paradise - Series 10 (Includes 4 Exclusive Postcards) [DVD] [2021]

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2 Entertain Death In Paradise - Series 9 (Includes 6 Exclusive Postcards) [DVD] [2019]

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