Death in Paradise: Elizabeth Bourgine, Tahj Miles and Ginny Holder chat season 12 and the Christmas special

Season 12 of Death in Paradise will reprise a familiar cast alongside some brilliant newcomers as viewers traverse the whodunnit scenarios that crop up in this exciting mystery drama series.

Set in the Caribbean on the fictional island of Saint Marie, this season will explore more murder cases for DCI Neville (Ralph Little) to unravel, whilst romantic undercurrents prevail for some of the team alongside some bombshell family revelations that have tipped over from the end of season 11.

There’s also a one-off Christmas special where things take a spooky turn in a haunted house, and an old case resurfaces with tragic news. There’s a chance for romance to sparkle within the team and some career changes that bring new depth to a few characters. 

The Upcoming had the pleasure of hearing from cast members Elizabeth Bourgine, Tahj Miles and Ginny Holder as they talked us through the new series, the  Christmas special, and some of the challenges of filming on the island.

Death in Paradise must be one of the best acting jobs going – you get a beautiful location, everyone looks like they’re having a great time during filming – but are there any challenges to making the show? Is anything harder than people might think?

Ginny Holder: The heat! It’s quite difficult working in that intensity.

Tahj Miles: When we work on a day when it’s not cloudy at all and there’s pure blue skies and sunshine, it looks great, but it’s not the easiest to work in. Working on an island compared to a city, there’s not always the amount of resources you get in, say, London. There’s only one road that can take us from each location, compared to in London, where you can take the backroads and the shortcuts. So if that road for whatever reason is shut down, we can’t really get to our location. There’s always challenges but, at the end of the day, it’s the Caribbean and there’s much worse places to work in. So whatever the challenges are, we forget about it once we go to the beach, and we chill out and enjoy ourselves. And we can do.

Elizabeth Bourgine: The mosquitoes too! We got eaten all day long! 

Tahj Miles: Also, when it rains, it really rains in the Caribbean. There’s no such thing as light rain.

A lot of things have changed since season 11 – especially for you, Ginny. Your character is going through some new life choices, now that Selwyn reveals he has a daughter and is reigniting things with his ex-wife. How does that feel for you? There’s was always this little frisson of romance between you guys…

GH: Yes there was a little bit of a spark, but now I think I think he’s got a bigger fish to fry with the relationship with his daughter, which obviously he had just found out about the end of the last series. Yes, some huge life decisions for Darlene: she’s changing jobs. She’s loving being in the police station but she has no power; she’s just in the background, making sure everything’s done.

Tahj, in the Christmas special, Marlon spends the night in a haunted hotel. Did anything spooky happen during filming that you can tell us about?

TM: The location itself is very spooky. I remember reading the script and there was this really spooky scene in the script. I love horror and scary movies but sometimes you get to a location and you’re like, “It’s not that bad”. But this haunted house… I was pretty convinced it was haunted. I’ve always wanted to be in a horror film and it’s my first my first taste of it. It was really fun! 

The show has now been on for over a decade, and it’s almost becoming like Cabot Cove in Murder She Wrote – people might think the killer is actually one of you guys. Could all three of you can weigh in on what you think contributes to the enduring success of the show?

TM: I think the scenarios are really important. Even after 12 years, the writers still seem to find a way to make everything fresh and everything new. I think it’s really amazing. For example, last year, we had a skydiving episode, which was brand-new this year, we have a murder that takes place in a bunker, which is brand-new. You always think, “How are they going to make a new choice?” but they manage to do it every single year. Also, there’s always new partnerships within the main team with new characters and new energy. So there’s always something new that fans have to look forward to.

GH: Also, we have different guest casts coming in and that always changes up the flavour and the energy, so nothing’s really the same. I think that’s why it’s also continued for so long. Even the inspectors change so there’s always a little bit of a change somewhere.

EB: I agree with Ginny and Tahj – I think the scripts are very good. There’s always a  surprise, something new. And I think what is important, too, is that all the characters we get become like a family; we get close to them on screen.

There are some great guest stars lined up for series 12 and the Christmas Special. Do you have any favourites or anyone you’d nudge the producers and writers to reach out to?

GH: You form relationships with the guest cars that come in; they have their own energy, and they become a kind of family that you kind of get the opportunity to dip in and out. But if I were to say who would be? I mean, Joe Martin was phenomenal. Les Dennis was on a whole other level. He was brilliant. I think we’re just blessed with the people that come on this show. They may struggle a bit with the heat and getting acclimatised, but we make sure they have a brilliant time.

TM: In terms of who we want to have on the show… for me, probably Idris Elba. He’s probably at the top of my list because he’s just one of my favourite actors.

EB: Well, I don’t know all the famous English actors. I know actors that I’ve been working with, and I would love to have Mark Rylance. I just love him.

What has been your favourite murder case? Are there any standout ones from season 12?

TM: The one where the murder takes place in a bunker – that one’s really good. It was when I read the script originally, I said, “Oh, that’s very different and really interesting”. The whole murder and how we started is really clever and really intricate. That’s the one that really that stands out at the moment for me.

GH: Maybe I’ll jump on that one with you!

Are you still happy with your characters? What direction would you like to see them evolve or move into in the next episodes of this season?

EB: I would love Catherine to find herself a handsome man. She deserves that. That’s my personal wish for Catherine.

TM: People keep asking whether Marlon and Naomi will have a romance… I do wonder what a romance in Marlon’s life would look like. I don’t think it will be in the workplace – I don’t want it to be in the office – it would have to be outside of that office. Who would it be? Someone from his past life, or someone like me, that’s brand-new that you’ve never come across before? That could be very cool to see how that would come about.

GH: It would be interesting to see Darlene after the whole Dwayne thing – who would be the next person she might have a relationship with? But, I’d love to see what her family is like, to explore where Darlene’s character comes from.

Christmas specials are so loved by viewers. What do you want them to feel after they finished watching your Christmas special?

EB: Why does it end so quickly? Because they will want to know what’s going on after that – because this Christmas episode is really precious and it has so many layers to it.

TM: Without saying too much about the story, I want them to appreciate family more and who they have around them.

Do you think the pandemic brought a new or different dimension to the show from either behind the scenes or what viewers experience in the story?

TM: I think the parts that you don’t see – the parts off-screen. I think it was series ten where we filmed in the middle of the pandemic. Obviously there were certain things we couldn’t do on the island because we had a lot lockdowns and curfews. That was such a shame as there’s so much from of the island to explore.

GH: The interesting thing was got a lot more viewers during lockdown. We added on the numbers hugely. We even had a couple come out and say recently they started watching Death in Paradise during lockdown and then watched the whole series from one to 11. They loved it so much they’ve become fans, so it gave people time to jump onto Death in Paradise if they’d never seen it before. 

Ezelle Alblas

Death in Paradise season 12 is released on BBC One on 6^th January 2023.

Watch the trailer for Death in Paradise season 12 here: