DI Neville Parker (played by Ralf Little) will solve his first case in Death In Paradise tonight as the new lead detective joins the Saint Marie police force. The new arrival doesn’t expect to stay on the island for too long when he first arrives and Ralf has revealed what viewers can expect from his character and how his arrival will affect the Saint Marie residents that fans have grown to love in the popular BBC drama.
In last week’s instalment, viewers waved goodbye to DI Jack Mooney (Ardal O’Hanlon) after three years of watching him lead murder investigations.
But he isn’t the only detective to have turned his back on Saint Marie after replacing his predecessor DI Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall).
Ben Miller, who played DI Richard Poole, was the first lead detective to kick off the series when it first started in 2011.
Speaking to press including Express.co.uk, Ralf was asked what Neville brings to Saint Marie that’s different from his predecessors.
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“Ben’s character was very clear in that he hated being there, and just wanted to go home,” Ralf began.
“They wanted to return to sort of that kind of conflict, but they’ve tried to flip it on its head.
“My character would have been happy to be there, but the island hated him rather than he hated it.”
Ralf explained Neville is “allergic to everything” and this stops him from enjoying his time on the island.
“The way they’ve sort of expressed this is that he is allergic to everything,” he said. “Every type of pollen bring brings on hay fever, the saltwater in the sea brings his on rashes as well.”
“This was a difficult thing because he’s allergic to everything,” he added.
“So every animal, you know, he’s a magnet for Mosquitoes, he gets sunburned really easily all those kind of things so he physically struggles a lot all the time.”
Ralf explained bosses wanted to avoid introducing Neville as someone who complains but instead show him as someone who can’t help being “difficult”.
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“It would get quite boring quite quickly if it was just somebody who was just complaining all the time,” he remarked.
So we had to try and find this way of somebody who’s like ‘look I’m not trying to be difficult this is just the reality of my life’.”
He explained his struggles can frustrate both him and his team at times and this will be explored in the series.
Meanwhile, Ralf addressed the “huge responsibility” he felt taking over the role from Ardal.
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Ralf was asked how he felt when he heard he would be joining the show as the lead detective.
“I feel very honoured and flattered,” he continued. “They’re big shoes to fill, I think he’s fantastic.
“I was out there for two and a half months [last] summer and I just had the absolute time of my life.”
He added: “I feel like [it’s] a huge responsibility but you know what a joy, [huge] responsibility but I love that.”
Death In Paradise continues tonight on BBC One at 9pm.
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