Death In Paradise star Anna Samson has spoken of her ‘huge pride’ for becoming the beloved BBC franchise’s first female lead.
The Home And Away actress, 34, won’t be taking over for Ralf Little, but will instead be fronting her own show, Return to Paradise, set in the stunning Australian coastal region of Illawarra.
The original programme, based in the Caribbean, has become a firm fan-favourite since it launched in 2011, with four male detectives taking the top spot: Ben Miller, Kris Marshall, Ardal O’Hanlon and Ralf Little.
And although this may be a huge change, Anna has promised audiences won’t be disappointed.
Speaking to Metro ahead of the new series launching, she said: ‘I think that the Death In Paradise audiences are smart and kind and very ready for a female detective.
‘I don’t think it changes the DNA of the show that much at all, if I’m really honest. I think setting it in Australia actually changes the DNA more than having a female detective, I think there’s something about the show that’s got kindness in its bones, and it’s quite hard to do kindness without inclusivity.
‘So I don’t think a female detective is in any way a big shock or even a big departure from the original actually.’
While she didn’t think the fact she’s making history would come as a huge shock to audiences, Anna did reveal that she’s found her new role to be ‘nerve-wracking’ and ‘surreal’.
When asked how she felt about being cast as DI Mackenzie Clarke, an Australian ex-pat whose made a name for herself in London’s Met Police for cracking uncrackable cases who returns to her homeland – the last place she wants to be – after six years, Anna said: ‘[I feel] different now to when it first started, I can’t lie.
‘When I first heard about my casting, it was nerve wracking and surreal taking the mantle from these wonderful, characterful detectives, but also these beloved, charismatic, male British actors.
‘That’s enough to make you a little crazy if you’re not careful.’
She went on: ‘I think back to when I got the phone call from my agent, there’s this blissful, wonderful 24 hours where you’re walking on sunshine a little bit, and then you go, “Oh, s**t, I actually have to do it,” but I can’t replicate anything to what those previous actors did.
‘I bring me to the show, and that’s not something I can help. And when you’re shooting it, when you’re on set, when you’re working, you can’t think about the franchise, or being the first female detective, or how people might perceive that. You just have to play the scenes and the truth of the scenes and along with the fear and the responsibility, there was, and there is, a huge amount of pride, and I was, and am, pleased as punch.’
Talking about whether she feels pressure to continue the franchise or sees Return To Paradise as a clean slate from its original, she continued: ‘I think a bit of both, if I’m really honest.
‘There’s pressure that comes with any job, because you want to do your best and you have a responsibility to everyone you work with and your audiences.
‘But again, it’s not helpful to bring that into the work, and you have to see it as a new story, and Mackenzie is not aware of that particular pressure.
‘So you really do have to switch that part of your brain off at work. In your own home life, you have to figure out how to manage that, and I’ve been an actor for a while now, so I have some skills in managing the pressure of being a performer.’
Despite launching as a new series, with DI Mackenzie cracking her own cases in a world entirely separate to Death In Paradise, Anna assured fans the spin-off has ‘the same spirit as the original’.
She said: ‘The show absolutely has the same spirit as the original, as Death in Paradise, and it pays homage to it in many, many ways.
‘But it’s not a carbon copy, and it’s not in the Caribbean, and that’s really key, because that particular culture clash that’s in Death In Paradise is not there.
‘DI Mackenzie Clark is a fish out of water, but in her hometown, and that creates a different flavour of tension. She knows the town, the town knows her.
‘There’s history here, and there’s a lot of drama and comedy that comes from that specific thing, a homecoming, a reluctant homecoming, and she’s a city person in a small town life, but she’s forced back into it like the proverbial square peg in a round hole.’
‘It’s a homecoming,’ she echoed, continuing: ‘Which is just a very different thing to being a Brit in the Caribbean. It’s a different tension. It’s different drama, different comedy.’
Anna has found a way to connect with her character through her longings for another country, having grown up in the UK and moved to the Australia where she felt ‘like a sunburnt outsider’.
DI Mackenzie fled Dolphin Cove six years ago, leaving her fiancée Glenn (played by Tai Hara) at the altar.
When she returns, after being accused of tampering with evidence in her Met Police role, she’s not welcomed back and is reluctant to join the local police team and attempt to win over her colleagues and neighbours.
When asked about recognising any similarities with DI Mackenzie, she told us: ‘Yes and no, maybe that’s the answer for every single character you ever play, you can see the difference and similarities.
‘I found Mackenzie’s reticence about Australia and her longings for the UK really, really relatable and really easy to tap into. I was born in the UK. I left when I was girl, and I moved to Australia, and it took me a very long time not to feel like a sunburnt outsider.
‘I missed England with a great longing for a very, very, very long time, and that was a really easy thing to call on for me, a really easy emotional thing for me to call on when playing Mac.’
After a six-episode run as DI Mackenzie, Anna has revealed she’s ready to call on her emotions again, teasing a future season: ‘I’ve certainly not put Mackenzie to bed as it were, I’ve got more DI Mackenzie left in me for sure, I’ll say that much.’
Having made history in this series, she’s also set her sights on another momentous role, with speculation swirling over who could be the next James Bond.
‘I’d love to, bring it on, who wouldn’t,’ she said.
When asked if it’s about time, she added: ‘I do, but I also think we can write as iconic new things for women. We don’t always have to be replacing men. We can find stories that are written by and for and centered on women.
‘I think we know that strong, brilliant, Maverick women in central roles are very popular. I think we’ve proven that now.’
Return To Paradise airs from Friday, November 22, at 8pm on BBC One, with all six episodes available on BBC iPlayer.
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