Death in Paradise's Ralf Little on "strict" rule for show's stars

Death in Paradise star Ralf Little has suggested that the show is "strict" on actors not appearing as more than one character, despite he himself being an exception to the rule.

Yep, in case you didn't know, before his current turn as main character DI Neville Parker, the actor appeared on the series all the way back in 2013 as one-off character Will Teague.

However, while appearing on today's (February 4) Good Morning Britain, Little explained that the show tries to avoid doubling up on characters on the whole.

death in paradise, ralf little as neville parker

Red Planet/Denis Guyenon//BBC

"I was actually in series 2 of Death in Paradise as a guest, so I'm the only actor that's been in it twice now," he explained.

Co-host Ben Shephard then asked: "They're pretty strict about that aren't they, as a rule?"

"Apparently so," Little replied. "I'd been in Heartbeat about five times before I was 21! That was a whole different thing.

"So yeah, they really try not to double up, but they made the exception. Luckily I wasn't a murderer or a victim in the first one, so I think I was able to get away with coming back again."

ralf little, josephine jobert, death in paradise

Amelia Troubridge//BBC

Series 2 was of course when Ben Miller was leading the show as Richard Poole, Little recently explaining how the "happy accident" of his predecessor's exit helped to keep Death in Paradise "fresh".

"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 said on The Michael Ball Show. "I think he had a young kid who he wanted to be there for, which totally makes sense."

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."

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

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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.