Death in Paradise star Ardal O’Hanlon reveals ‘gruelling’ aspect of filming the BBC crime drama

Former Death in Paradise star Ardal O’Hanlon has reflected on the “gruelling” aspects of working on the much-loved series.

The Father Ted actor, 59, played detective inspector Jack Mooney on the hit BBC drama from 2017-2020 and claims the job was extremely difficult due to its long shooting hours.

Death in Paradise is set in the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie and focuses on the British DI Neville Parker (Don Gilet) and his team as they solve murder mysteries that shake the island.

O’Hanlon admitted that he was envious of his co-stars with more downtime while shooting the series, which is filmed on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.

Speaking to The Mirror, he reflected: “God, that was tough. Like people don’t believe you when you tell them how tough it was.”

The actor explained he was “grateful” for the part and looked back on his time on Death in Paradise as a “life changing experience” because it provided him with a  “radical change of scenery”.

He added: “It was gruelling because you have a huge workload…You have so much to prepare every day, so you don’t have much downtime at all.”

O’Hanlon admitted he was often “jealous” of the actors who played guest roles on the show like suspects and victims, because they’d have an “amazing time” swimming in the pool and “drinking cocktails”.

Meanwhile, the star said he was working his “a*** off” for “12 hours a day, six days a week”.

O’Hanlon said a producer even came to warn him of the intensity of shooting the much-loved series a month before he was due to fly to Guadeloupe.

The exec told him “‘you can still get out of this, if you want,’” and warned him conditions would be “tough” with potential “hurricanes” to deal with.

“He was really painting a very bleak picture,” the actor said. “Like, people go stir crazy in that environment…you’re always dealing with something, like there’s creatures that want to kill you.”

It comes shortly after Don Gilet, who was announced as the replacement for Ralf Little, who played DI Neville Parker for four and half years, detailed the “intense” filming period for the show’s forthcoming Christmas episode.

He said: “It’s intense because you’ve got that heat from the start to the end of the day. It does get to a point where you are used to it, but it takes that extra layer of concentration.

“You can’t turn the temperature down, but it’s a beautiful backdrop to shoot against. Sometimes you have to pinch yourself and go look at where you are and what you’re doing.”

He compared getting to grips with the character to being on a scary ride at a theme park.

Gilet said: “I’m going on it, and I know it’s going to be scary, but I’m going to do it. You’re daring yourself. Then you sit in the seat going, ‘What have I just let myself in for?’ But it was exciting because I knew I was embarking on this new journey.”

Returning for the special and 2025 series are familiar faces including Don Warrington as commissioner Selwyn Patterson, Shantol Jackson as DS Naomi Thomas, Ginny Holder as Darlene Curtis, Elizabeth Bourgine as Catherine Bordey, and Danny John-Jules as officer Dwayne Myers.

The Death In Paradise Christmas special will air on 22 December at 8.30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.