A Death in Paradise star has shared the behind-the-scenes filming ordeals including heatstroke and an insect burrowing into his ear during filming for the BBC dramaBethany Whittingham and Amy Denman Showbiz & TV Editor
10:52, 31 Jan 2026
(Image: BBC)
Death in Paradise filming was halted as the show’s star required urgent medical attention after a bizarre accident.
Ben Miller was seen by medics after an unforeseen mishap just weeks into shooting the inaugural series of the BBC drama. Back in 2010, the 59 year old actor travelled to Guadeloupe to film the opening series of the beloved detective show, which is now nearing its 15th year on television.
There, he played Detective Inspector Richard Poole, a cantankerous London copper relocated to the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie. Despite basking in the sunshine on the stunning tropical beaches, the father-of-three encountered his share of difficulties – including an unplanned trip to see medical professionals. Mille, remembered one surprising episode whilst working alongside his co-star Sara Martins.
The star was forced to halt filming for the day(Image: BBC/Red Planet Pictures/Denis Guyenon)
In an exclusive chat with Express.co.uk, he reflected on what it was like shooting on the opposite side of the globe for half a year. He shared: “The only trouble I had, well, I had two weird things that happened.
“One was, what a lot of people got, which was heat stroke – it does send you slightly crazy. And because I was wearing a wool suit, at one point, in the middle of the scene, I tried to rip all my clothes off and run into the sea. It’s just so hot in these scenes.”
But one unexpected incident he suffered on set forced producers to cancel filming for the day as they rushed him to a medic. Miller chuckled: “On another occasion, I was in the middle of a scene at the police station, and I saw this weird insect from the corner of my eye, and it flew in a loop-the-loop around my head.
Ben Miller revealed filming had to be halted(Image: BBC / Red Planet / Denis Guyenon)
“I was doing a scene with Danny John-Jules, and it sort of looped and then flew straight into my ear. I was literally quivering as this thing was burrowing down inside my ear, and I didn’t know what it was.”
He chuckled: “I had to go to the doctor in Deshaies, that’s the name of the little town where we filmed, and the doctor had to get a pair of tweezers and pluck this little burrowing insect out of my ear.
“I couldn’t carry on filming because it was like someone was tickling inside your ear; it was one of the weirdest experiences. I literally went a bit crazy, sort of jumping around, and then I ran off.”
Another unexpected situation the actor encountered whilst filming in the Caribbean was the presence of crawly critters. Reflecting on his time in Guadeloupe, he revealed: “There’s a very odd thing in Guadeloupe, in most of the scenes, all the beaches have these land crabs just out of shot.
“It’s usually about 100 crabs that have just been brushed out of the way by the set designer or the standby props department. There’s often a man with a broom just brushing crabs out of the way before we call action.
“It’s so weird, they live in these little holes at the top of the beach, but there’s just huge crowds of crabs. It’s a Caribbean thing, you see it on a lot of other Caribbean islands as well, but there are so many in Guadeloupe.”
Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.