Death In Paradise creator on the UK city that is the subsequent smartest thing | TV & Radio | Showbiz & TV | EUROtoday

Its creator describes it as a love letter to the wonderful girls in his life. And amid an onslaught of macho, male-led, crime dramas and thrillers, The Marlow Murder Club brings a refreshingly female take to the artwork of catching killers because it returns to tv for its superb second season. The cosiest of cosy crime it is perhaps, however the UKTV collection set towards the gorgeous backdrop of the Buckinghamshire city is severely gritty, too. Just moments into episode one, our intrepid beginner sleuths Judith Potts, Suzie Harris and Becks Starling (AKA Samantha Bond, Jo Martin and Cara Hogan) are confronted with the physique of Marlow grandee Sir Peter Bailey, crushed beneath a fallen cupboard on the eve of his marriage to his youthful former nurse, Jenny.

With Sir Peter’s examine door locked from the within and the police inclined to go it off as a tragic accident – although the deadly cupboard seems to have been unfastened from the wall – it’s clearly a job for the Marlow Murder Club. If solely they will remedy the thriller with out harming the profession prospects of their police officer pal and speak to DS Tanika Malik (Natalie Dew), who’s already beneath scrutiny for permitting them into her earlier investigation.

Based on the best-selling novels of Death In Paradise creator Robert Thorogood, in addition to a brilliantly watchable whodunnit, the collection genuinely flies the flag for the straightforward pleasures of feminine, in addition to inter-generational, friendships.

Filmed over the most well liked summer time on file final yr – the forged stored going with numerous ice lotions – it’s one other cracker. “I can’t think of many shows where you see genuine friendships blossoming across the generations,” says Cara, 40, who performs vicar’s spouse Becks Starling. “And it’s not mentioned, it’s just taken as a given, as it should be.”

Co-star Natalie, 37, chips in: “Often when there are multiple lead female actors in something, they’re competing towards a goal, whether it’s a man or to be the one who gets the promotion. “What’s lovely about these four women Robert has brilliantly written is we’re all working towards a common goal.

“There’s something truthful in the way they lean on each other and ask for help. It’s not seen as weakness, it’s actually something that’s very human, so I hope people relate to that.”

Samantha, 63, who plays the formidable crossword-setting Judith Potts, has joined her two co-stars at a warmly-received preview screening where their chemistry is evident (only Jo Martin, 43, is absent). She says she believes the feel-good series, also starring Rita Tushingham, 82, as local busybody Mrs Eddingham, has “broken the mould”. “I remember getting the first series – it arrived on a Friday night so I read the two episodes over the weekend,” she recalls. “Our downstairs is open plan, so I was sitting on the sofa and my husband was in the kitchen. I’d gasp and then laugh and then gasp again. He asked if it was good and I said it was extraordinary – and that’s true of this series as well.”

For his part, Robert Thorogood, 53, a fan of Agatha Christie’s golden age crime novels, says: “Death In Para-dise was very much about male preoccupations. It has lots of male detectives and that was very enjoyable. That was my Hercule Poirot. But I’ve always loved all of Christie’s books. While I’m not going to do [husband-and-wife sleuths] Tommy and Tuppence – I wondered what a modern-day version of Jane Marple would be like.”

Asked if he thinks he succeeded, he chuckles: “That was the start of it, butshe’s way too sassy and punchy and cool to be Jane – she’s Judith!” He continues: “I was raised by amazing women – my grandmother and my seven great aunts, who were terrifying, wonderful women. And there’s also my wife [Classic FM presenter] Katie who’s very much the Tanika figure but also the Becks figure. So I wanted to write a love letter to all of these amazing women.”

Part of the show’s appeal is the fact that plots are allowed to play out over two 45-minute episodes. While the first season was based on Robert’s eponymous novel, season two is a four-parter.

Episodes one and two follow Robert’s second book, Death Comes To Marlow, while episodes three and four feature an exclusive new mystery. “I was so keen that we’d have the space for the fun and the relationships. UKTV didn’t have a model for that so they created one,” Robert beams. “It makes it so much more joyous to write. On Death In Paradise, it’s just plot, plot, plot… here, there’s chit-chat, and friends hanging out and having a nice time – as well as catching killers!”

Viewers will enjoy seeing the three amateur detectives grow in confidence. As Samantha, who famously played Miss Moneypenny opposite Pierce Brosnan’s 007 and Judi Dench as M, says of Judith, who lives in a smashing Thameside mansion (actually filmed over two houses): “She’s the delver, she always goes underneath the surface which is what she did when she worked, she was an archaeologist.” As for Becks, the perennially plate-spinning vicar’s wife, Cara explains: “It’s been a constant search to find her identity amongst motherhood, but also her husband taking on this position as a vicar. She’s tried really hard to be the ideal wife and mother.

“This season, she feels less need to be what she thinks is the ideal vicar’s wife. She can get back to her instincts to be a rebellious person. In getting close to Judith and Suzie, she’s found kindred spirits – people who have that sense of adventure and fun.” She adds: “It’s fantastic the way Robert has represented women at different stages in their lives.”

Meanwhile, the third in their trio, professional dog walker Suzie who, as Robert admits, has a habit on the page of “taking over every scene she’s in”, is struggling with empty-nest syndrome with daughter Zeta leaving for university as the series starts. But the humour is never far away. A first episode highlight sees the gang commandeer a mobility scooter to follow their prime suspect, Sir Peter’s son Tristan Bailey, played by Tom Stourton, through Marlow. Suzie’s behind the wheel while Judith and Becks hang on for dear life.

“We did have stunt doubles but therewas an awful lot of the three of us on that scooter,” reveals Samantha. “You’re tied on with a bit of rope and the stuntman says you’re perfectly safe, then you swing round a corner! When it goes over a speed bump, my ‘Ow’ is completely genuine and I’m not sure my bottom has recovered.”

Robert adds: “That scene isn’t in the book, which you can understand because it’s so visual. But I asked the question, ‘What would be fun?’ and it was one of those ideas we just thought was brilliant. [Director] Steve Barron’s got to shoot it, the actors have got to act it, I don’t care that it’s impossible, we don’t have the budget and I’m worried about Sam’s bottom which is becoming uninsurable as time passes – we just knew it was going to be fun. We take the drama seriously in the heightened world of murder mysteries, but by having eccentric women solve the crime, they also get into scrapes. You get the drama and puzzles, but also the jokes and the humour.”

Cara reveals: “While they’d blocked off the roads to avoid real collisions, we were nevertheless in the real Marlow streets. There are people wandering around, people peering out the windows, so you’ve got that extra element that gives the whole thing more adrenalin!”

Natalie chuckles: “Sam’s just getting more Tom Cruise every time we do something. Honest to God, next series if we get one, she’ll be out of a helicopter.” Robert, a Marlow local, initially pitched the series asa television show, but despite his hugesuccess with Death In Paradise, it failed to find a channel. So he buckled down to write the books – “It’s batty but it worked,” he admits, “I was desperate to get this story on screen”.

The fourth, Murder On The Marlow Belle, has simply been printed. Asfor the inspiration behind the third and fourth episodes of collection two, Robert reveals: “We were sitting in the room thinking, ‘Why would you commit murder in Marlow?’ and I said, ‘It was bloody bin day last night!’ And we all had stories about people stealing bins, leaving them on the pavement – that’s the start of the next story.

“The only downside is it’s slightly become a place of work. Walking my dogs, Isuddenly think ‘Oh, Harrow & Hope,’ this really nice vineyard, ‘If we do another series, that would be a good place tohave a murder’, and I’m thinking of people upside-down drowning in vats of wine. It’s a faff that way, but easy to get to set.”

While it’s clear locals have taken the present to their coronary heart, it’s additionally attracting guests. Bond, who stays in an Airbnb whereas filming, recollects: “One evening I was sitting in Pizza Express and there’s a Norwegiancouple who’d enjoyed season one and had come to Marlow to see the town. “They asked the waitress, ‘Is that Judith Potts?’ and the waitress said, ‘You can’tdisturb Judith, she’s working’.

“So they never found out I’m marriedto a man who’s half-Norwegian. I couldn’t have said a lot, but I could’ve said, ‘Hullo, how are you, thank you for coming’.”

Cara recollects: “One day we were filming along the river and people were craning their necks, taking pictures and saying hello. A couple walked past and, very casually, the woman turned to us and said, ‘You can put him in prison if you like’. The people of the town are getting to know what we’re doing.”

Only one factor would make it higher: a tie-in between Robert’s two hit collection. “I’m waiting for Marlow In Paradise anda trip to Guadeloupe,” provides Cara with amischievous smile.

• The Marlow Murder Club season two begins on U&Drama at 8pm on Wednesday, with the primary collection accessible on BBC iPlayer. Murder On The Marlow Belle by Robert Thorogood (HQ, £16.99) is out now