‘Return to Paradise’ Season 2 Comes Back to BritBox
'Return to Paradise' will become a BritBox-only exclusive series starting with Season 2.
Despite Death in Paradise’s continued popularity despite being five detectives in, and its first spinoff, Beyond Paradise, being one of the first of BritBox’s big original hits, the British-based streamer was initially hesitant to pick up the second spinoff, Return to Paradise. It had good reason to be wary – the entire BritBox brand is that none of its shows are this British-ish mish-mosh of high fantasy with American values and plummy accents.
Return to Paradise might be a spinoff of a very British show set in the French Caribbean and sister to a series that proposed paradise is in Dover, but the entire show is Australian. It’s part of the point – Death in Paradise goes through detectives like tissue paper because the commute from London is horrific. Choosing Australia – where everyone already speaks English, and there’s a homegrown continent’s worth of talent to mine – is simply practical logistics. But it does make the show not technically British.
In the end, it was left to the cable network Ovation to pick up the distribution rights for Season 1, the network’s first major draw since Murdoch Mysteries. Seeing the enthusiastic response, and with the BBC picking up Return to Paradise as an ongoing series, the show suddenly cleared the British bonafides bar, and Season 2 is now a BritBox exclusive release.
Here’s the BritBox version of the Season 2 synopsis:
Detective Sergeant Mackenzie Clarke should be back in the UK, living her best life. Instead, she’s still in Dolphin Cove trying to stay out of her ex-fiancée Glenn’s wedding plans. Lucky for Mack, her compulsion to solve impossible cases serves as a great distraction. From the literary world to state-of-the-art shark labs, dating apps and rock concerts, Mack and her team face challenges with their unique blend of humour and tenacity. But Mack’s biggest challenge of all? Finding a way to exist in Dolphin Cove as the ultimate outsider.
Tai Hara, Lloyd Griffith, Anna Samson, and Catherine McClements in 'Return to Paradise' Season 2 (BritBox)
Anna Samson (Home & Away) leads the cast as DS Mackenzie Clarke, once again joined by Tai Hara (Colin From Accounts) as Forensic Pathologist Glenn Strong, Mackenzie’s former fiancé; Catherine McClements (Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries) as Sr Sgt Philomena Strong, Mackenzie’s boss and Glenn’s mother; Lloyd Griffith (Nolly) as DSC Colin Cartwright; Aaron McGrath (Gold Diggers) as Constable Felix Wilkinson; Andrea Demetriades (The Artful Dodger) as Glenn’s fiancee, Daisy Dixon; and Celia Ireland (Wentworth) as Reggie Rocco.
Season 2 will also once again feature Ardal O’Hanlon as DI Jack Mooney, the series’ vague excuse for tying back to St. Marie and the parent franchise.
Anna Samson, Tai Hara, Andrea Demetriades, Lloyd Griffith, and Catherine McClements in 'Return to Paradise' Season 2 (BritBox)
The series is co-created and executive-produced by Thorogood, Peter Mattessi, and James Hall. The producer is Di Haddon. Executive producers for BBC Studios Productions Australia are Kylie Washington and Warren Clarke, for Red Planet Pictures are Belinda Campbell and Tim Key, and for ABC are Rachel Okine and Brett Sleigh.
Return to Paradise Season 2 will premiere on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, the same day Beyond Paradise Season 4 concludes, and will stream weekly through mid-August. Please note: this is only for the U.S. Canadians will have to wait a little bit longer. Season 1 is available to stream on BritBox; Season 3 is already greenlit and expected to debut in 2027.
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