Popular crime drama Death in Paradise returns to BBC One for a ninth series this Thursday and it’ll be the last for lead actor Ardal O’Hanlon.
It was announced last year that Ardal will be handing over the baton to Ralf Little (The Royle Family) as he bows out of the sun-drenched ratings puller. Watch the trailer below:
If you want to avoid all spoilers for series 9 of Death in Paradise, stop reading now.
The synopsis for episode 1 of the new series is:
Weāre back to the sun-soaked Caribbean for New Yearās Eve, where Aaron McCormack (Elliot Cowan) and his wife Vanessa (Amanda Hale) are set to enjoy an evening of festivities at Aaronās company Cariba Airways, alongside his employees, including Aaronās assistant Tabatha (Nell Hudson).
Aaron heads to the party alone, but celebrations quickly come to a halt when Vanessa is found stabbed – all while Aaron is doing the rounds at the party. D.I Jack Mooney (Ardal OāHanlon), along with his trusted team of D.S. Madeleine Dumas (Aude Legastelois-BidĆ©), Officer JP Hooper (Tobi Bakare) and Officer Ruby Patterson (Shyko Amos), are quickly on the scene, but are welcomed by some inconclusive CCTV footage and an eerie message left by a perpetrator in a devil mask.
When Charles Crabtree (Adrian Edmondson) witnesses a further attack by the same masked murderer on Donald McCormack (Samuel West), the estranged brother of Aaron, the team is baffled. As another cryptic message found at the second crime scene, and each suspect is found to have an alibi, the team struggle to find who is behind this joint attack on the siblings – and why.
Meanwhile, Jack continues to get into the swing of island life at the local dance hall, but surprises himself when he finds a new dance partner.
Death in Paradise series 9 premieres at 9pm on Thursday 9th January 2020 on BBC One. Preview it with our gallery below: