It has been revealed that Irish actor Ardal O'Hanlon ‘Handsome Devil’ will make his debut in the BBC’s Caribbean drama ‘Death In Paradise’ airing on BBC One on the 2nd February at 9pm.
The Carrickmacross native joins the cast as new character DI Jack Mooney in the sixth series of the show which is an international co-production between BBC and France 2.
Ardal joins series regulars Josephine Jobert, Danny John-Jules, Tobi Bakare and Don Warrington for the remaining episodes of series six and it has been announced that he will remain the resident Caribbean cop when the popular drama returns for a seventh series in 2018.
Ardal said: “I am delighted to be joining Death in Paradise and exploring what’s made Mooney up and leave London for a life in the Caribbean. I’ve already had a taste of filming in Guadeloupe and can’t wait to get back.”
Ardal is set to be replacing actor Kris Marshall ‘Love Actually’, who has confirmed he is leaving the programme after working on it for the past four years.
Marshall the English actor, who plays Detective Inspector Humphrey Goodman, explained to 'Good Morning Britain' ‘presenters Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard on the 2nd February that family reasons motivated him to quit the popular BBC drama after the sixth series ends.
“It's sad…but it's one of those things," Marshall said. "I've done four years, it's an amazing show, but it's time to move on and it's time for someone else to enjoy the sun.”
Kris Marshall and co-star Sara Martins as DI Humphrey Goodman & DI Camille Bordey in the show.
On the morning TV programme Kris Marshall also praised O’Hanlon in his new role on the show, he said. "We meet him for the first time tonight," he said. "He arrives on the scene as sort of our colleague in London, and he's fantastic."
Tim Key, Executive Producer, Red Planet Pictures says: “We are thrilled to be welcoming Ardal to Saint Marie. He is comedy royalty and DI Mooney brings a brand new dimension to the show when he arrives on the island. We’re really excited about our plans for this series and beyond."
Death in Paradise is currently in the middle of it's sixth series, Ardal makes his debut in episode 'Man Overboard (Part One)' which will air on BBC One Thursday 2nd February at 9pm.
'Death In Paradise' has been commissioned for BBC One by Charlotte Moore, Director of Content, and Piers Wenger, Controller of Drama Commissioning, and is a Red Planet Pictures production, produced with the support of the region of Guadeloupe.
It is created by Robert Thorogood, produced by Sue Howells and executive produced by Tony Jordan and Tim Key for Red Planet Pictures and Elizabeth Kilgarriff for the BBC. Fans can watch the current series on BBC One on Thursday nights and series seven will air in 2018.
