Star: No Death, Just Paradise by Kath Norgrove

The day had started out hot. We had risen early and made the five-minute drive in search of the Inspector's beach shack. Although, Plage de la Perle was only the next beach along from our accommodation, we were unable to walk there via the headland between due to a challenging hike through dense vegetation.

On arrival, we strolled along the beach and, after a short while, came across the famous rustic hut right on the sand. It’s not quite as remote as it appears on TV, but it was still on a lovely stretch of beach. It is only a temporary structure, and when they are not filming, it is surrounded by Heras fencing for safety. Not only that, but it is then dismantled at the end of the season and reassembled when the cast and crew return the following year. After several photos from every angle and selfies, we walked further along the beach and paddled in the sea. By 9.00 am, it was roasting and in the very high 20s or 30 degrees already, so we headed back to our accommodation for breakfast.

We were staying at the Langley Resort Fort Royal hotel in small circular bungalows with pointed roofs, overlooking the ocean. The main hotel was a large white structure resembling a stack of sugar cubes. The hotel, bar, and beach in front have featured in numerous episodes, including one almost entirely filmed in front of the restaurant, which we recognised as soon as the opening sequence began. On our arrival, we asked at the reception desk if they'd done any filming, and they said we'd just missed the Christmas tree in reception. They'd also recently filmed the 100th episode, which had a lot of scenes filmed there. Several of the crew and guest cast members stay at the hotel during filming or use the restaurant, as we were to find...

Following breakfast, we relaxed by the beach bar where we had spent the previous evening chatting with Peter Howard, the first assistant camera operator with the 'B' camera.

He explained, ”The fisheye lens makes everything look bigger than it is.”

We found out later that some of the beaches that looked pretty big on the show, in fact weren't and considered that this was the work of Peter. All night, we had been surrounded by crew from the show, though we didn't see any cast members. On another occasion, though, we did see Don Warrington, who plays the formidable, sharp-tongued Commissioner Selwyn Patterson.

The sand was a light brown colour littered with small rocks and leaves, with palm trees providing well-needed shade. The beautiful turquoise blue sea stretched for miles until it met the light blue sky. There were a couple of islands offshore – a fairly big one called the “Kahouanne islet” and a smaller one known as "Tete l'Anglais," literally translating to an Englishman's head. Tete l'Anglais is also a cactus plant! These feature a lot in the backdrop of the show, with Kahouanne once being used in an episode.

Because of the intense heat, we decided to have a late meal at the restaurant. While waiting to be seated, we recognised a speaker with a British accent, a very familiar voice. We did a double-take and turned around to see the star of the show, Ralf Little, who played Chief Inspector Neville Parker, sitting on a sofa in a long, rectangular pavilion, talking on his phone. We were almost ready to be escorted to a table when we turned again to see him in the queue behind us.

The restaurant provided a buffet-style all-you-can-eat dinner, with all manner of starters, mains, desserts, and ice creams. I was sitting facing the interior of the restaurant. When we got to the ice cream part of the meal, I spotted Ralf heading for the ice cream, as well.

With an "I'll be back in a sec" to Andy, I jumped up and headed in the same direction.

Ralf had already chosen his ice cream and was approaching me.

With a grin, I said, "Love the Show".

He almost dropped his ice cream. To my surprise, he said they didn't get many people travelling here from the UK. Then again, it was a bit of a trek. I was introduced to the two crew members with him: Izzy Ancsell from makeup and Amy from costume. The crew was having a weekend off, celebrating the completion of the Christmas Special.

I rushed back to Andy, saying, “You'll never guess who I've just bumped into?”.

I proceeded to explain my encounter with Ralf, as I ate my dessert. At this point, Andy decided he also needed some ice cream. I went in after him for a refill, only to find that Izzy and Amy were doing the same. We had a long chat to both of them and felt very pleased with ourselves that we'd met some cast and crew from the show.

Dinner was over, and as we were leaving, lo and behold, so were the crew. Not just Ralf, Izzy, and Amy but also others that had been sitting with them as well, including one of the producers. In the course of our conversation with them, we were invited to go and see them filming. They were up in the hills that week filming the next episode at a private villa (the murder at the bingo game), so we wouldn't be able to go there.

However, Ralf kindly offered, “If you're still here next Tuesday at 3 p.m., then come to the Police Station. Between takes, I can give you a tour.”

Disappointingly, the next Tuesday at 2.45 p.m., we were going to be at the airport, checking in for our flight home. Bummer.

The following day, we moved to a different accommodation, 'Habitation Grande Anse'. It turned out we'd just missed Elizabeth Bourgine who plays Catherine Bordey. Another bummer. All was not lost, though, as we spent the week living on the outskirts of the charming fishing village, Deshaies, which doubles up as Honoré in the programme. The show’s location team has done a clever job of making a small stretch of coast in the north-western corner of Guadeloupe look like a whole island of different locations, which makes it very easy to do a do-it-yourself Death in Paradise location tour.

We visited familiar places from the show; regularly parking by the "Police Station", where they park in the show, and sat on the benches immediately outside of it, where the cast sometimes sit. In real life, the police station is Deshaies’ priest’s office. It is next to the Honoré church, which is actually the Catholic Church of St Peter and St Paul. Local residents often use it for services. We went to the harbour and also found the beachside terrace used as Catherine's Bar in the show, the outside part of a restaurant called Le Madras. Not only that, but we went for drinks there one night and for a meal on another.

Another location we visited was the Deshaies Botanic Gardens. A mile south of town, it was a vibrant burst of tropical flowers, flamingos, and parrots and very humid. In the opening episode of series three, Richard Poole, the show's first detective, met a sticky end at this location with an ice pick. This was also where part of the 2023 Christmas Special was filmed. In the waterfall scene at the end, I have a photo of the same spot, just minus the actors.

One episode was filmed at the Saint Marie Zoo, where a zookeeper was murdered with a tranquillizer gun. It is, in fact, the "Zoo de Guadeloupe au Parc des Mamelles", located thirty minutes from Deshaies along the coast, on the mythical road "la traversée". Scattered across four hectares of jungle, the zoo is home to 85 different species from the Caribbean and Guyana, over 450 animals ranging in size from tiny reptiles to large cats. One of its outstanding features was the zoo's treetop walkway, which has also been in the show. Fifty feet above the ground, a network of shaky, narrow wood and rope bridges transverses the dense green canopy, giving stunning views of the animal enclosures below.

We were astonished to find how little Guadeloupeans profited from Death in Paradise considering how popular it is—particularly in the UK, but it's also aired in the US, Canada, and Australia. The night we ate at Le Madras, Catherine's Bar, there were definitely tourists who were eating there because of the show, but it was pretty rare to see any. The bar had some photos on the walls of the main characters, but the grumpy French woman who ran it didn't seem at all impressed by it. So, apart from the occasional tour group, there isn't much tourism, which adds to the experience of exploring the genuine Saint Marie island without the crowds and maybe making it out alive.....