Beyond Paradise series 1, episode 1 spoilers follow.
When the BBC announced plans for a Death in Paradise spin-off, nobody could have blamed fans for expecting a carbon copy of the main show.
Since launching in October 2011, Death in Paradise has largely stuck to a rigid formula with its case-of-the-week mysteries, light-hearted tone and succession of romantic dilemmas for the lead detectives.
It's an approach that has paid off, as the cosy crime drama is one of the highest-rated shows on television, year in, year out. So surely the BBC's approach to a spin-off would be simple – just provide more of the same and enjoy a few extra weeks of high ratings each year?
Well, yes and no. Many of the familiar Death in Paradise ingredients are present in Beyond Paradise, which sees Kris Marshall reprise his role as DI Humphrey Goodman for the first time since 2017.
The six-part series follows Humphrey and his partner Martha Lloyd (Sally Bretton) as they relocate from London to the fictional Devon town of Shipton Abbott. This marks a new chapter for the devoted couple, six years on from their happy-ever-after in Humphrey's final Death in Paradise episodes.
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With Humphrey joining the local police force, there's a familiar set-up as he deals with the challenges of leading a new team – DS Esther Williams (former EastEnders star Zahra Ahmadi), PC Kelby Hartford (Derry Girls' Dylan Llewellyn) and Margo Martins (This Time with Alan Partridge star Felicity Montagu).
Much like the supporting cast of Death in Paradise, the trio will quickly have to adjust to Humphrey's quirks and clumsiness as he provides a chaotic new approach to police work.
Each episode focuses on a separate mystery, which is resolved within the hour – another element that will be instantly recognisable to Death in Paradise fans.
So, what's different? Well, first up, it looks like Shipton Abbott won't have the same alarmingly high death rate as Humphrey's old haunt of Saint Marie.
Episode one deals with a woman who's targeted by a mystery attacker in her own home, but – spoiler alert – she survives and bizarrely claims that the culprit was a seventeenth-century witch.
Episode two also avoids the "murder in the first five minutes" Death in Paradise approach, as Humphrey is left baffled by the case of an entire family who disappear without a trace.
Other mysteries across the course of the series include a missing painting, an impossible burglary and an arsonist whose crimes invoke the classic children's story of the Three Little Pigs.
Tony Jordan, writer and executive producer on the series, recently told Digital Spy: "We're not ruling out murder. There's no murder in the first episode, there's no murder in the second episode and I don't think there's a murder in the third!
"We're not ruling out murders and we'll have them when someone kills someone. Then Humphrey will investigate it. But we want to do different types of crime because that's really interesting. It allows you to go to different places and stops you from being tied so rigidly to a certain format."
The classic Death in Paradise technique of gathering all the suspects together for a dramatic denouement is also absent, at least in the first episode. Instead, there's a unique new way of putting viewers in the picture in the final moments of the episode.
Executive producer Tim Key recently said: "We can do anything in this show – that's the joy of it. We can wrong-foot people and have some fun with it.
"That goes right down to the way that the show is formatted. Episode one doesn't have a title sequence, episode two does. Some episodes start with a pre-title sequence, others just start with the credits right at the beginning.
"We love the idea we can just do whatever feels right for the story that we're telling in that episode. Establishing our rules and then immediately breaking them has been really good fun."
The personal element of the show also delves into new territory for the Paradise universe. For years, Death in Paradise has told "will they / won't they?" romcom stories for its leading men, but the longevity of Humphrey and Martha's relationship naturally demands a different approach.
Within the first episode, it's clear that the show will be exploring some of the heartbreaking challenges that can be faced by established couples. This provides higher emotional stakes than some of the love stories we've seen on the main show in the past.
Tony Jordan recently explained: "The fascinating thing about Beyond Paradise, which is different to Death in Paradise, is how much serial there is in it. We genuinely invest in this journey that we're sending Humphrey and Martha on.
"That's a really important part of the show and Kris Marshall and Sally Bretton are just stunning.
"The puzzles have to be slightly different as well. They have to be slightly more concise, much truncated and therefore slightly smarter if anything. Not less complex, but less complicated because we've got to balance the two different things. While there is a serial element in Death in Paradise, it's just not as much."
Spin-offs can be a risk, so it'll take some time to determine whether viewers can adjust to seeing Humphrey and Martha in an unfamiliar setting with a whole new cast.
It'd be a wise choice to flesh out the supporting characters like Esther, Kelby and Margo by delving into their lives sooner rather than later, so that fans can grow to love them as much as the favourites from Death in Paradise.
For now though, fans will surely be pleased to see the BBC expanding the Death in Paradise universe. The recent introduction of an annual Christmas special, and now a spin-off, means that the team can serve up more intrigue and mysteries than ever before.
Death in Paradise series 12 airs on Friday nights on BBC One and streams on BBC iPlayer. Beyond Paradise premieres on Friday, February 24.
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Daniel has been writing about soaps on Digital Spy since 2004 and took over as Soaps Editor in 2010.
He has interviewed hundreds of soap stars over the years, from Bill Roache to Lacey Turner, and regularly visits the sets of Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks for behind-the-scenes trips and press events.
He has served as an awards judge on numerous occasions for the likes of the BAFTA TV Awards, RTS Programme Awards and British Soap Awards. In 2020, he was Highly Commended for Best Section Editor at the BSME Awards.
