Death in Paradise almost had a famous comedian playing the beloved season one lead, Detective Richard Poole.
The creator of the hit BBC drama series, Robert Thorogood, has revealed in a new interview that someone else was set to take on the role before Ben Miller was eventually cast.
According to Thorogood, Peep Show and Would I Lie To You star David Mitchell was originally supposed to play DI Richard but turned it down for a very special reason.
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Revealing why Mitchell didn’t end up travelling to the Caribbean to film the show, Thorogood explained the comedy actor gave up the opportunity for the sake of his love life.
"David was originally pencilled in to be the lead in Death in Paradise," Thorogood said, in an interview with OK!. "When the show was green lit, he was attached, but it was about then that he'd fallen in love with Victoria.
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"He was very, very polite about it as you can imagine and said, 'I'm really sorry, but I can't go to the Caribbean for six months. I've just started dating Vicky Coren.'”
It seems Mitchell made the right choice, as he went on to marry Victoria Coren Mitchell in 2012 and the couple now have two children together.
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"We were very lucky actually because Tony Jordan - who was one of the masterminds of the show - has been keen from the start to call it Death in Paradise rather than name it after the detective," Thorogood continued. "He said, 'We've got to make it so that if a detective changes, we still have a show.'"
"When David said he couldn't do it, it didn't feel so catastrophic. We just went looking for another person who could play an uptight, white, middle class, private school educated, neurotic lunatic and we were very lucky to get Ben to do it. That's worked out well."
Death in Paradise and its spin-off, Beyond Paradise, both air on BBC One and stream on BBC iPlayer.
Read more Death in Paradise news on our dedicated homepage
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News Editor, Digital Spy
Emma is an experienced entertainment news journalist with NCTJ accreditation and a First-Class Honours Degree in Journalism. Having started her career as a broadcast journalist, Emma’s voice has been heard on varying radio stations across the UK including Absolute, Magic, BBC Three Counties Radio, LBC London News and more.
Later specialising in multimedia entertainment news, Emma has brushed shoulders with numerous famous faces and interviewed the likes of Edward Norton, Margot Robbie, Sir Michael Palin, Rick Astley, and too many soap stars to count. Having produced a range of engaging news content over the years for brands such as 7Digital’s Entertainment News, Yahoo, and Express Online, Emma eventually joined Digital Spy in 2022 as Deputy News Editor, becoming Acting News Editor in 2023 and then News Editor in 2024.
While she’s gained lots of praise during celebrity interviews throughout her career, the most memorable compliment Emma’s ever received was when a Game of Thrones star remarked "Your teeth are stunning!". LinkedIn
