‘Return to Paradise’ Season 3 Introduces the New Hotness
Perhaps it is us who are out of step and backward having to wait months yet to 'Return to Paradise.'
Those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in the part of the globe known as “the West,” tend to treat the poor Oceania dwellers down under as if they are somehow backward and upside down. It doesn’t help that the seasons are offset by six months, so summer peaks just after the Christmas holidays, and everyone wanders around in heavy coats in mid-July. So it is par for the course that it feels a little odd to be posting the first trailer for Return to Paradise Season 3 in October 2026 when Season 2 only just streamed on BritBox in August.
However, Australia has gotten one thing right since the streaming revolution: homegrown TV shows. It is the only country outside of America to launch a successful streaming service completely independent of previously existing companies with the launch of Stan. Also, perhaps because of the distance, unlike American production studios, it never forgot the importance of bringing a show back year after year, and how essential weekly release schedules can be to a show’s success.
So while it does feel a bit out of step with the usual schedule for the Australian variant of the Paradise-verse to be dropping a trailer now, when we up here won’t see it for at least six months or more, consider this: Perhaps it is us who are out of step and backward, having to wait to see how Mac handles the fallout of a second wedding disaster involving Glenn for months yet.
Here’s the Season 3 synopsis:
DS Mackenzie Clarke is back, fresh from having wrecked another of Glenn’s weddings and determined never to follow her heart again. But ignoring her heart won’t be easy. The arrival of her force-of-nature mother Jillian puts Mack's mettle to the ultimate test and there's something undeniable about the raffish charm of the new pathologist Leo. As for Glenn, who has gone away to ‘find himself’, well that's a whole other puzzle for Mack to try and solve ...
And, while Dolphin Cove may still look like paradise, it continues to serve up a steady stream of baffling murder mysteries – from the artist stabbed in full view of the public, to the wildlife worker dead in a locked cassowary cage. Mack will solve it all with her usual brilliance, and the off-beat help of her loyal team.
Anna Samson (Home & Away) leads the cast as DS Mackenzie Clarke, with Lloyd Griffith (Nolly) as DSC Colin Cartwright, and Tai Hara (Colin From Accounts) as Glenn Strong, Mackenzie’s former fiancé. The rest of the main ensemble includes Catherine McClements (Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries) as Sr Sgt. Philomena Strong, Mackenzie’s boss and Glenn’s mother; Andrea Demetriades (The Artful Dodger) as Glenn’s (also maybe former?) fiancée, Daisy Dixon; Aaron McGrath (Gold Diggers) as Constable Felix Wilkinson; Celia Ireland (Wentworth) as Reggie Rocco; and Ardal O’Hanlon (Death in Paradise) as DI Jack Mooney, the series’ vague excuse for tying it to St. Marie. Season 3 also adds Jacob Collins-Levy (The White Princess) as the new pathologist (and new Mack love interest), Leo and Kerry Armstrong (Darby & Joan) as Mack’s mother, Jillian Clarke, to the regular roster.
Season 3 guest cast will include Zöe Ventura (Time Bandits), Mark Lee (A Place to Call Home), Tina Bursill (Strife), Ngali Shaw (The Twelve), Anthony Hayes (The Slap), Zindzi Okenyo (Critical Incident), and Matt Day (Rake).
Thorogood, Peter Mattessi, and James Hall co-created and executive-produced the series, with Di Haddon producing. Kylie Washington & Sophia Zachariou executive produce for BBC Studios Productions Australia alongside Belinda Campbell, Tim Key & Alexandra Carruthers for Red Planet Pictures and Rachel Okine & Brett Sleigh for ABC.
Return to Paradise Season 3 debuts on ABC iView on Monday, November 16, 2026. It is expected to debut on BritBox in mid-2027. Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming now.
Death in Paradise
All episodes of Death in Paradise Seasons 1 through 15 and Beyond Paradise Seasons 1 through 4 are also available to stream on BritBox. Death in Paradise Season 16 and Beyond Paradise Season 5 are also in production and are expected to debut in the first half of 2027, ahead of Return to Paradise Season 3.
