'Return to Paradise's Season 2 Trailer Does Not Do Chill Vibes
There is no chill in Dolphin Cove, just murder, mayhem, and vibes.
At this point, you could tell me Death in Paradise was going to do a spinoff series set in Florida, measles and all, and I would accept it as not just totally believable, but a guaranteed hit. The franchise, conceived and helmed by Robert Thorogood for most of its existence, has managed to turn a cozy crime case-of-the-week show set in the fictional St. Marie into a ratings juggernaut. That’s despite the commute to the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe (where the series is filmed) being so awful that none of the lead characters have lasted more than a few seasons.
However, it’s not just the parent series that’s thrived over 15 seasons despite the constant turnover. When Thorogood decided to make a spinoff to bring back the show’s most popular former characters by setting it in Devon (a much more reasonable commute, thank you), Beyond Paradise was born, and no one cared that the “paradise” in question was not nearly so exotic. Then the franchise launched Return to Paradise, a spinoff set down under in Dolphin’s Cove, with a roster of Australian actors, led by Anna Samson, the franchise’s first female lead detective. The location once again made it seem a bit of a stretch (and delayed pickup in the U.S., because BritBox wasn’t sure it was British enough for its tastes). But once Season 1 aired across the pond, the show was picked up by two distributors, with Ovation taking the airing rights and BritBox the streaming rights.
Now Season 2 is heading to BBC One, and fans are once again all in, even though none of this has anything to do with the events over on St. Marie or in Devon. Apparently, in the mid-2020s, all we want are cozy crime shows where people solve murders on the beach.
(....Yeah, I can’t really blame us.)
Here’s the full synopsis from the BBC:
The series will see the return of Detective Sergeant Mackenzie Clarke, still trapped in her hometown of Dolphin Cove, while grappling with the end-of-series-one bombshell that her ex-fiancé, Glenn, still has feelings for her. The team contends with even more perplexing cases, including the chemical poisoning of a man alone at sea, alongside having to deal with larger-than-life characters like a troublesome rock band who fall under suspicion when one of their members is found dead.
Beyond her detective duties, Mackenzie is forced to confront Glenn’s shocking confession that he still has feelings for her, despite his impending wedding to Daisy, complicating her own feelings toward him even further. Meanwhile, the unexpected arrival of Colin’s old friends from back home starts to crack the mystery behind his decision to leave everything behind and build a new life in the tight-knit community of Dolphin Cove.
Samson will once again be 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; Celia Ireland (Wentworth) as Reggie Rocco, as Andrea Demetriades (The Artful Dodger) as Glenn’s fiancee, Daisy Dixon. Season 2 will also once again feature Ardal O’Hanlon as DI Jack Mooney, the series’ vague excuse for tying it to St. Marie.
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 is expected to air this spring on the BBC, and follow on Ovation in the U.S., before streaming on BritBox later in the year.
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