Interview with Ralf Little who plays Neville in Death in Paradise's Christmas Special

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Christmas is coming to Death In Paradise but that doesn't disrupt business as usual in Saint Marie.

A podcaster is murdered whilst investigating the disappearance of a child. It’s a case that’s haunted Selwyn for many years, and now Neville and the team must lay its ghost to rest.

How was returning to Guadeloupe?

It’s always exciting to be asked back. The first Christmas special was testing the waters to see if it was something people would enjoy, so the fact that it was such a massive success meant it was a no brainer to go again. I keep saying it, but how can you be anything but unbelievably proud to be part of something that people care about and love so much? So, I was delighted. Six months in the Caribbean doesn’t hurt either! I still love it here and it feels like home now. I know the area, I know a lot of the locals, I speak the language pretty well.

The Christmas special has quite a spooky storyline - what can you tell us about it?

The nice thing about a Christmas special is that everyone understands that you can be a bit more playful or experimental – or special, even – with the tone. We have ninety minutes instead of an hour, so we can give storylines time to develop. They went bold this year with the script. Don’t worry, it’s not a massive departure from the usual Death in Paradise story. We still know what people enjoy about the show, but it’s a good old-fashioned Christmas ghost story with clever twists. It has a scary tone, but it’s in keeping with the world of the show. It was fun to film and I think people are going to enjoy it.

How do you think Neville has changed since last series?

In the second half of the last series, he was trying to get over the loss of Florence. He’s still a little burned by that. He may be a superhuman sleuthing mastermind, but he’s still a human! Workwise, he’s mostly settled in, but in his personal life he’s not quite sure how he feels about trying to move on from that, or whether he wants to move on and carry the idea of Florence with him. He has a lot to work out. That sets the foundation for his journey in the Christmas special. We can’t let him get too settled. He loves life on the island, he’s got a great group of friends, his job’s going well – it can’t all be smooth sailing, so there’s a lot this year that he’s got to cope with. More than ever.

We go to another island this series, what can you tell us about that episode?

Naomi goes over for a wedding and a murder takes place. St Barnabas is such a small island that the only police force they have is one guy who was Naomi’s mentor, so they quickly enlist our help. All Caribbean islands have their own unique tone and vibe, so it was a nice challenge to portray the slightly different vibes of the islands. It’s lovely for Shantol Jackson playing Naomi because we go back to her roots, trying to solve a case with her mentor but she’s already had much more experience than him now, so there’s all that conflict. She’s able to step up and Neville sees that it’s important for Naomi to have autonomy in her own space. He follows her lead and I think that only strengthens their working relationship and their friendship.

There’s a potential love interest for Neville…

Sophie comes from Manchester too, played by the brilliant Chelsea Edge. It starts with them bumping into each other, it’s a very sweet, charming, cute meet. They get on well. As quirky and eccentric as he can be, he’s very kind, and is actually a little nervous when she expresses an interest in him. He’s still heartbroken over Florence and he doesn’t want to waste her time, so he’s very honest about it. Then there’s a few twists and turns from there…

Do you have a favourite storyline or episode this series?

Most of what you do in this job is contained episodes, with a bit of character building over the serial arc, so when you get episodes that really challenge a character and make life interesting, you really relish it. The one at St Barnabas is Naomi’s. I’m lucky this year that I have two stories that test the character and were really challenging to play. I’m lucky in that I get to do a job that I enjoy, but it’s especially fun to get up and go to work thinking this is going to be a pretty different day. Episodes six and seven are going to be brilliant. When people see them, they’re going to freak out. I think they’re going to love it, but they’re going to be like “no way”!

As the series progresses, we see a lot of support from Neville’s team. What was it like working with the other cast this series?

The dynamics of the team are crucial to the show’s success. The show stands or falls on whether the audience takes them into their hearts. Don Warrington is literally a living legend. Every time I’m in a scene with him, I’m thinking about how lucky I am. Shantol Jackson was an incredible addition last series. She fitted in easily. In the St Barnabas episode, she really took the opportunity. She’s a joy. Tahj Miles is annoying because he’s too good. He came in effortlessly. When I was his age, I wasn’t cool, and he’s effortlessly cool. He’s brilliant at his job.

Ginny Holder calls herself the aunty of the group. Darlene really stepped up to being part of the police team. She humanises and grounds a lot of Neville’s quirkier stuff and Ginny just nails it.

It does feel a little bit special when Elizabeth is on set, which is funny because she’s been on the show since the start. It should feel normal, but it shows how much she’s respected. Catherine will be the one to give you a little nudge when you won’t take the plunge. That character is like an inspirational walking metaphor for how we should live life – grab every day, don’t waste your life, take your chances. She’s the show’s conscience.

What can you tell us about the guest cast? Is there anybody who really impressed you or you really enjoyed having on set?

As an actor who’s spent a lot of my career being known for one style of work and therefore had to work quite hard to do other stuff, one of the things I think is so great about this show is that they fearlessly cast against type. They’re very happy to go, “this is supposed to be an unpleasant, manipulative, dodgy character, what about Les Dennis?”. That’s brilliant, and they do that a lot. He’s a brilliant actor. It was lovely to see him enjoying being completely different. Anytime that happens, it’s always really good fun.

Another perfect example is Robert Webb. I’m a huge fan of his. It was a chance for him to do something completely different and I think he really relished it. He was a joy to have around. Kevin Eldon too as he’s basically a walking God in the comedy community. Kevin’s so known for being able to do anything that just having him felt like a massive coup and we felt lucky to have him.

It's lovely to ask the guest stars how they’re enjoying it and have them go, “yeah, I’m enjoying doing something different and it’s nice to have somebody take a chance”. It’s always nice for me, as someone with a background in comedy, to get to do something different, and then to see that happen to other people.

The show continues to attract fantastic, heavyweight actors. I think that’s partly because of its success, partly because the scripts are good, partly because it’s willing to take a chance on allowing people to do different things – and it doesn’t hurt that it’s filmed in the Caribbean!

What’s your favourite Christmas song?

Fairytale of New York.

What’s your favourite thing about Christmas?

Food.

What’s the best thing about Christmas dinner?

Roast potatoes.

Source BBC One

December 23, 2022 4:00am ET by BBC One  

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