Death in Paradise: Christmas Special 2025
8:30 pm - 10:00 pm, Sunday, December 28 on BBC One London HD (101)
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About this Broadcast
Christmas Special 2025
Season 1, Episode 1
The office Christmas party of a lifetime takes a dark turn when four co-workers wake up to find a stranger dead in the pool of their villa. DI Mervin Wilson and the team identify the murder weapon, but are left baffled when they find it was locked in a drawer when the murder took place - thousands of miles away from the crime scene. Meanwhile, Mervin anxiously waits to hear back from his newly discovered brother, which prevents him from getting into the festive spirit and embracing Saint Marie's Christmas celebrations. Festive instalment of the detective drama, starring Don Gilet, with guest appearances from Josie Lawrence, Kate Ashfield, Pearl Mackie and James Baxter
new
HD
subtitles
16x9
new
audio-description
Detective/Thriller
Movie/Drama
Cast & Crew
Josie Lawrence
(Actor)
.. Marjorie Dodds
James Baxter
(Actor)
.. Gavin Bradbury
Kate Ashfield
(Actor)
.. Helen Dugdale
Pearl Mackie
(Actor)
.. Karen Hickson
Billy Harris
(Actor)
.. Neil Dugdale
Don Warrington
(Actor)
.. Commissioner Selwyn Patterson
Alix Serman
(Actor)
.. Darrian St Jules
Shaquille Ali-Yebuah
(Actor)
.. Officer Sebastian Rose
Elizabeth Bourgine
(Actor)
.. Catherine Bordey
Shantol Jackson
(Actor)
.. DS Naomi Thomas
Don Gilet
(Actor)
.. DI Mervin Wilson
Ginny Holder
(Actor)
.. Officer Darlene Curtis
Oriana Charles
(Actor)
.. Ashley Simms
Amy Rodriguez
(Executive producer)
Tim Key
(Executive producer)
Jennie Paddon
(Director)
Ray McBride
(Producer)
James Hall
(Writer)
More Information
Did You Know..
Josie Lawrence
(Actor)
.. Marjorie Dodds
James Baxter
(Actor)
.. Gavin Bradbury
Kate Ashfield
(Actor)
.. Helen Dugdale
Pearl Mackie
(Actor)
.. Karen Hickson
Best Known For:
Playing Bill Potts in Doctor Who.
Early-life:
Born on May 29, 1987 in Brixton, London. She studied at the University of Bristol, where she earned a degree in Drama. She took part in workshops and extra-curricular plays while attending this university. In 2010, she graduated from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Career:
Mackie appeared as the front of house girl in the music comedy Svengali (2013). In 2014, she played Anne-Marie Frasier in Doctors. She has featured in a number of stage productions, including Obama-ology at Finborough theatre in London and in the National Theatre production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. In 2017, she appeared in Doctor Who as the new assistant, Bill Potts.
Quote:
"I remember watching TV as a young mixed race girl not seeing many people who looked like me, so I think being able to visually recognise yourself on screen is important."
Trivia:
Pearl Mackie's Dcotor Who character, Bill Potts, is the first openly gay main companion in the series.
Billy Harris
(Actor)
.. Neil Dugdale
Don Warrington
(Actor)
.. Commissioner Selwyn Patterson
Born:
May 23, 1951
in
Trinidad
Best Known For:
Playing Philip Smith in ITV sitcom Rising Damp.
Early-life:
Born Don Williams in Trinidad on May 23, 1951. He has an older brother. His father, Basil Kydd, died suddenly in Trinidad at the age of 48 in 1958 when Don was six. His mother, Shirley, decided to make a new life for herself in England while Don and his brother were looked after back in Trinidad by his grandmother. Shirley settled in Newcastle with a job at a metal factory and returned to Trinidad to collect her two sons. When Don was 12, his mother left for America to retrain as a nurse. Don and his brother were then looked after in England by his Auntie Lena. Don was 17 when he landed his first job as an assistant stage manager at Newcastle's Flora Robson Playhouse. He moved to London to train at the Drama Centre and then landed the role that made him famous.
Career:
Warrington began playing Philip Smith in ITV sitcom Rising Damp in 1974 alongside Leonard Rossiter and Richard Beckinsale. The hugely popular series ran until 1978 and led to a spin-off film. Decades later, Warrington directed the first UK stage tour of Rising Damp in 2013. He has also starred in Triangle, Crown Court, CATS Eyes, To Play the King, Grange Hill, Manchild, Holby City and The Crouches. More recently, he has appeared in Doctor Who, New Street Law, Casualty, Waking the Dead, Lewis and Death in Paradise. He has also performed with the National Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Bristol Old Vic. He competed in the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing with professional dancer Lilia Kopylova. They were eliminated in week five.
Quote:
"My brother and I were the only black kids in our school. The way you survive in those circumstances is to become like the locals, so I became a Geordie who was good at football."
Trivia:
Warrington was awarded an MBE in 2008.
Alix Serman
(Actor)
.. Darrian St Jules
Shaquille Ali-Yebuah
(Actor)
.. Officer Sebastian Rose
Elizabeth Bourgine
(Actor)
.. Catherine Bordey
Shantol Jackson
(Actor)
.. DS Naomi Thomas
Don Gilet
(Actor)
.. DI Mervin Wilson
Best Known For:
Babyfather, EastEnders and 55 Degrees North.
Early-life:
Born in Walsall in 1967, he was raised with two older sisters and always showed a love of drama. An early job was hosting a children's show called Playabout with Floella Benjamin. He also appeared in the video for Gabrielle's Out of Reach, before taking one-off roles in various TV dramas.
Career:
Don's first TV acting job was on The Imaginitively Named Punt and Dennis Show, but his big break came in 2001 with Babyfather, a BBC TWO drama based on the books by Patrick Augustus. After getting his big break playing nice but daft Johnny Lindo, Don Gilet went on to front detective series 55 Degrees North. He joined the cast of EastEnders earlier this year and has admitted that he was considering giving up acting prior to landing the tole. His theatre credits include Orlando in As You Like It at the Royal National Theatre, and the lead role in a critically acclaimed production of Ben Johnson's The Alchemist at London's Riverside Studios. In 2014, he joined the cast of Holby City.
Quote:
"The door has opened a little bit wider, but it hasn't been flung open. People haven't just gone and said, 'let's give loads of black people parts', but certainly people realise that we can do it."
Trivia:
He has appeared in a number of pantomimes.
Ginny Holder
(Actor)
.. Officer Darlene Curtis
Oriana Charles
(Actor)
.. Ashley Simms
Amy Rodriguez
(Executive producer)
Tim Key
(Executive producer)
Jennie Paddon
(Director)
Ray McBride
(Producer)
James Hall
(Writer)
