Beyond Paradise became an instant favorite with viewers this year when it launched back in February. And it was quickly confirmed that Beyond Paradise season 2 was on the way and a Beyond Paradise Christmas special!
The first series of the Death in Paradise spin-off saw DI Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall) and Martha Lloyd (Sally Bretton) move to her (fictional) hometown of Shipton Abbott in Devon, where Martha opened her own café and Humphrey took charge of the local police station. The pair were hoping to conceive a child via IVF, but when the treatment failed to result in a pregnancy, they briefly split up when Martha feared Humphrey would resent her for the fact that they couldn't be parents — but the series ended with the couple reconciled after agreeing that the two of them could be a family by themselves, and looking forward to the future together.
After everything they've been through in the past year, Humphrey and Martha deserve to have a nice, relaxing first Christmas together in Shipton Abbott, but Humphrey finds himself busy over the festive season as he and DS Esther Williams (Zahra Ahmadi) find themselves puzzled by a spate of break-ins in the area in which nothing seems to have been stolen.
We caught up with Kris and Sally to find out more about the first-ever Beyond Paradise Christmas special...
Kris Marshall and Sally Bretton interview for the Beyond Paradise Christmas special
How excited were you when you found out you were getting a Christmas special?
Kris: "It's a great honour to be given the Christmas show accolade, and a real validation of what we're doing. I don't think I've done a show where we got a Christmas special after only one series, so yeah, we're stoked!"
What can you tell us about the Christmas special?
Sally: "Obviously last time there was a lot of talk about what family can look like, when it doesn't look like the typical family. In the Christmas special, a boy comes into their life, and that plants a seed..."
Kris: "I can say it's very Christmassy, in that it's a very famous story that you'll all recognise, but with a sort of modern twist on it. It's heartwarming, it's funny, it's a little bit sad in the middle — it's what you'd expect from a good Christmas story!"
Martha and Humphrey have had a tough year, so will they have a happy Christmas?
Kris: "This is a Christmas episode, we can't have any more sadness for them! I'm very proud of how the IVF storyline was handled — I think it's an important story to address well, because it means so much to so many people and you don't want to mess it up. But we're moving on now, we're onto Humphrey and Martha's next steps in their journey, whatever that might be. I will leave the good viewers to pontificate whatever they think that journey could be!"
What gifts would you buy Humphrey and Martha for Christmas?
Kris: "I'd get Humphrey some new socks! That's normally the present you give to someone when you can't think of anything else, but Humphrey loves his socks! Getting socks for Humphrey us a good present. Or I'd maybe get him another duck friend for his duck."
Sally: "Their houseboat has so many corners and edges. Maybe I could get them some nice items to place around that would bring more curves into the boat. That would be nice!"
Are you looking forward to Christmas this year?
Sally: "I love Christmas! I have children, so it's exciting. My dream Christmas would be some friends popping round in the morning, and then just chilling out, something a bit civilised. Not wrapping until 1am and then getting up at 4am!"
Kris: "I love Christmas too — we tend to hunker down as a family over Christmas, and I love that element of it. It's a really restful time and a time of reflection, and we play a lot of games! I love the whole build-up — it's a wondrous time!"
- The Beyond Paradise Christmas Special airs on Christmas Eve on BBC1 at 9pm
