'Beyond Paradise' Christmas 2024 First Images Brings the Spirit Home
Kris Marshall as DI Humphrey, Sally Bretton as Martha Lloyd in 'Beyond Paradise' 2024 Christmas Special
BBC / Red Planet Pictures / Joss Barrett
BritBox has settled in for the holidays with several "Festive Specials" (as they're called in the U.K.) populating the calendar for the back half of the month. The specials will begin arriving on December 17, 2024, starting with the new Sister Boniface Mysteries Christmas episode. However, the season's highlight will come at Christmas and after, as Beyond Paradise and Death in Paradise debut their Christmas specials. Of the two, BritBox got first dibs with Beyond Paradise, which will stream its one-hour special edition in the U.S. on Christmas Day and then follow on the BBC on Friday, December 27. Death in Paradise will start on the BBC, arriving on Sunday, December 22, and then debuting on BritBox in the U.S. on December 27. Death in Paradise has the more significant plot development, as the series' fifth lead detective will be introduced in the special, but Beyond Paradise looks like the more interesting mystery.
However, star Kris Marshall might not remember the plot details. When asked about the 2024 special, he admitted that the show is so ahead currently that they'd just finished filming next year's holiday installment, Beyond Paradise's Festive Special for 2025. (He then realized his error, "I may have dropped a spoiler that I’m not supposed to." Welp.) However, that reveal also bodes well for a fourth-season renewal since these specials tend to be the first episode of the new season (just separated off by a few weeks).
The first images for the special are now out, and Marshall will definitely have his hands full for the holiday.
Kris Marshall as DI Humphrey and Sally Bretton as Martha Lloyd in 'Beyond Paradise'
BBC / Red Planet Pictures / Joss Barrett
Here's the Christmas Special synopsis:
When a widower starts seeing the ghost of his late wife, DI Humphrey Goodman and the team are called in to investigate. DS Esther Williams is deeply skeptical, but Humphrey is more than happy to dive into his first haunting. It's Christmas, after all, and who doesn’t like a festive ghost story?
The special stars Kris Marshall as DI Humphrey Goodman, Sally Bretton as Martha Lloyd, Isaac Vincent-Norgate as their new foster son, Ryan, and Barbara Flynn as Martha's mum Anne Lloyd. Despite threats to the station, it also seems very likely the core ensemble of mystery solvers will also return with Zahra Ahmadi as DS Esther Williams, Melina Sinadinou as her daughter, Zoe Williams, Felicity Montagu as Margo Martins, Dylan Llewellyn as PC Kelby Hartford and Jade Harrison as big boss CS Charlie Woods.
Guest stars for this year's one-hour episode include Amalia Vitale (Big Mood), Mark Heap (The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin), Tamla Kari (The Ipcress File), Chizzy Akudolu (Criminal Record), Austin Taylor (Doc Martin), Simon Nagra (D.I. Ray), Rosalind Adler (The Nevers), Sami Amber (Dalgliesh), and Seann Walsh (Bad Move).
Ian Jarvis penned the episode, Sandy Johnson directed it, and Lindsay Hughes produced it. Series creator Tony Jordan executive produced with Tim Key and Belinda Campbell for Red Planet Pictures, Danielle Scott-Haughton for the BBC, and Stephen Nye and Robert Schildhouse for BritBox International.
Beyond Paradise streams on BritBox on Christmas Day in the U.S. Season 3 will follow in due course in early 2025.
