BritBox Sets a Premiere Date for 'Beyond Paradise'

BritBox's deep dive into original programming in the U.S. has had its ups and downs. Some of its series, like Sherwood, are absolute corkers, while others are perhaps less. One of its most successful last year was The Sister Boniface Mysteries, based on the small-time recurring quirky character on Father Brown. Spinning off a new show set in the same world as a decade-long running series worked so well the streaming service is doing it again, this time with Death in Paradise, whose rotating cast of detectives makes it particularly suited to continuations, this one starring DI Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall) in Beyond Paradise.

But lest fans miss out, BritBox is taking the extra precaution to debut the latest season of Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise within the same month so that fans of the parent show don't miss out on the spinoff and vice versa. Death in Paradise has reached Season 12, which debuted in the U.K. in early January 2023, with the show's fourth DI Neville Parker (Ralf Little), leading the team since Season 9, with DS Naomi Thomas (Shantol Jackson) as his partner, who started in Season 10. They star alongside long-running main characters Commissioner Selwyn Patterson (Don Warrington) and restaurant owner turned Mayor Catherine Bordey (Élizabeth Bourgine).

Beyond Paradise, meanwhile, will bring back former DI Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall), the show's second DI in the chronology, who was the lead when the show's popularity took off. Goodman's popularity was based partly on his will-they-or-won't-they relationship with Martha Lloyd (Sally Bretton), whom he followed back to the U.K. to stay together. Their relationship and Goodman's new posting back in the U.K. will be the center of the spinoff series.

Here's the synopsis for Death in Paradise Season 12

The sun-soaked, smash-hit whodunnit returns for more murder mysteries with a light touch and a warm heart. DI Neville Parker has more crimes to solve on the blissful island of Saint Marie, kicking off with the mysterious death of a celebrity astronomer. And on a quiet hillside on the island, a bunch of Preppers are digging in for the apocalypse when one of them is killed. There’s also a baffling killing on a boat, a famous singer who finds herself under suspicion, a shocking murder at a wedding, and a simple domestic murder – that turns out to be Neville’s greatest-ever challenge.

And here's the overview for Beyond Paradise:

This spin-off from Death in Paradise follows DI Humphrey Goodman and his fiancée, Martha, as they leave London to start a new life on the Devon coast. Humphrey takes up the vacant position of Detective Inspector at Shipton Abbott police station, a slightly antiquated outpost of the Devon & Cornwall Police district. Meanwhile, Martha’s keen to open up her own café. Both are hoping for a quiet lifestyle away from the stress and violence of the city. But it doesn’t take long for the couple to realize that countryside life is not going to be so quiet after all. For one thing – there’s the surprisingly high crime rate to contend with…

All eight episodes of Death in Paradise Season 12 debut on BritBox on Friday, February 3, 2023, and Beyond Paradise follows with six episodes later in the month, the date still TBD.