Return to Paradise is just right for a drizzly British winter evening – review
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Introducing Detective Inspector Mackenzie Clarke. She’s an Australian police officer who moves to London and builds a successful career, but eventually returns to her peaceful hometown of Dolphin Cove in Australia, feeling frustrated and bitter due to some "misunderstandings" at Scotland Yard regarding her alleged "tampering with evidence." This is the premise of "Return to Paradise," the latest spin-off from "Death in Paradise," airing on BBC One.
Clarke, portrayed by Anna Samson from Home and Away, finds herself back in the small town where her career in law enforcement began—a place she was eager to escape. To complicate things further, her boss, Senior Sergeant Philomena Strong, played by Catherine McClements, happens to be the mother of Glenn, the attractive forensics officer (Tai Hara) whom Clarke left at the altar when she chose to pursue a career with the Metropolitan Police years ago. Despite this tangled history and the emotional fallout it brings, Strong feels compelled to welcome Clarke back, largely due to her outstanding skills in solving homicides.
However, the upsides seem to stop there. Clarke has a strained relationship with her ex, and even though there are hints of connection between them, we don’t fully grasp why she treated him so harshly. It’s like a person puzzled over why they were bitten by a funnel-web spider; eventually, both we and Glenn come to understand that it's simply part of her character. Clarke also struggles to collaborate with the clumsy local police officer, Detective Senior Constable Colin Cartwright (Lloyd Griffith), who has traveled in the opposite direction to Clarke—moving from England to Dolphin Cove in search of a more relaxed lifestyle.
It's nice to see that there’s no clichéd Aussie-Brit rivalry here; instead, Clarke behaves quite rudely towards Cartwright, frequently overlooking him altogether, and pushes away any efforts from her coworkers to establish standard working relationships. While many detectives have their own issues, Clarke's challenges seem to be a fundamental part of who she is, and she almost seems to take pleasure in them. Samson portrays Clarke with a touch of the cold, analytical style that Benedict Cumberbatch brings to Sherlock Holmes.
She does an impressive job of catching the unusually high number of murderers in this picturesque part of coastal Australia, where it feels like everyone simply relaxes at the beach all day. Being part of the Death in Paradise series, the storyline is almost believable, though just barely. The first episode even has a vibe similar to one of those Jonathan Creek mysteries, where the victim, a real estate agent, is found dead inside the locked crime scene, dramatically stabbed in the back on the beach.
Clarke's key observation is that "we're focusing on the wrong crime," which earns her a "temporary but indefinite" position at Dolphin Cove. Similar to the team in the original Caribbean setting of Saint Marie, there are a few rookie officers included for comedic effect, and by the conclusion, all the suspects come together to have the baffling murder mystery clarified for them—an element that's been a classic feature of whodunits since at least The Mousetrap.
The most important aspect is that the franchise has moved to a new setting while still retaining its core charm. It remains the perfect choice for a cozy, rainy British winter night, enjoyed with a glass of Yellow Tail Sauvignon Blanc and a casual gaze at the television. This is no small feat. Creating crime dramas that are engaging yet easy to watch—much like a well-crafted murder mystery—is more challenging than it appears.
