Bringing sunshine when it’s needed the most, the BBC's smash hit Caribbean crime drama Death in Paradise, produced by Red Planet Pictures, will return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer with a brand new series starting on Sunday 4 February. Welcoming the return of Ralf Little (DI Neville Parker), Don Warrington (Commissioner Selwyn Patterson), Shantol Jackson (DS Naomi Thomas), Tahj Miles (Officer Marlon Pryce), Ginny Holder (Trainee Officer Darlene Curtis) and Élizabeth Bourgine (Catherine Bordey) as they face the joys and difficulties of island life, the series will see them come up against a new string of ingenious cases to crack.

Kicking off the new series is the show’s milestone 100th episode, in which Commissioner Selwyn Patterson celebrates fifty years of police service, before being left fighting for his life as he’s dramatically shot by a mysterious assassin. As the team and island alike are left in despair, the question remains: will Selwyn survive? The landmark episode also features an array of talented guest stars, including Sean Maguire (The 100) – who becomes the first guest to reprise their role since appearing in the first ever episode in 2011 - alongside Leon Herbert (Outlander), Cathy Tyson (Boiling Point) and Mensah Bediako (Andor).

Elsewhere, across the rest of the series, Marlon confronts his future, Naomi lets loose to double date with Darlene, and Catherine finds herself embroiled in a murder case when an old friend becomes a suspect. New and returning faces arrive on Saint Marie, and Neville faces his biggest decision yet. Will our hapless detective finally get his happy ever after? There’s also a deadly game of bingo, a poisoning at a cookery competition, death during a blackout, and a mystifying murder in a lift.

As ever, Death in Paradise welcomes a host of sizzling guest stars to its sandy shores, including: Academy Award winner Hayley Mills (Unforgotten), Ellie Haddington (Motherland), Kate Robbins (Unforgotten), Pearce Quigley (Detectorists), Ronni Ancona (Last Tango in Halifax), Richard Fleeshman (The Ark), Juliet Cowan (The Power), Shvorne Marks (The Walk-In), Michael Fenton Stevens (Hapless), Ben Wiggins (You), Guy Henry (Holby City), Kevin Garry (Ted Lasso), Taj Atwal (Hullraisers), Emma Naomi (Bridgerton), Gabrielle Glaister (Coronation Street), Elise Chappell (Poldark), Ali Ariaie (The Great), Eve Posonby (Carnival Row), Emma Sidi (Starstruck), Calvin Demba (The Rig), Rachel Adedeji (Hollyoaks), Richard Lintern (Nolly) and more, along with the return of Selwyn’s daughter Andrina, played by Genesis Lynea (Champion).

Offering the perfect cocktail of sun-soaked escapism, shimmering seas and bright blue skies, Death in Paradise continues into its thirteenth year with its much-loved combination of magnificent murder mysteries, mindboggling puzzles and plot twists which leave audiences guessing and on the edge of their seats.

Licensed to over 230 territories across the globe, Death in Paradise is much loved by audiences worldwide often proving to be the best performing drama on its respective channel in each region. It was recently announced that the Death in Paradise franchise has built on its international success and is hitting Australian shores with an original, home-grown spin-off series, Return to Paradise. Coming to ABC in Australia in 2024 and the BBC in the UK, Return to Paradise combines the DNA of the original global smash hit murder mystery series, with a new, unique Australian take.

Death in Paradise is a Red Planet Pictures production for the BBC made with the support of the region of Guadeloupe and internationally distributed by BBC Studios. The feature length episode and series 12 is executive produced by Tim Key and Ceri Meyrick for Red Planet Pictures and Danielle Scott-Haughton for BBC and produced by Joanna Hanley. All series of Death in Paradise are currently available on BBC iPlayer.