Former Death in Paradise star Ben Miller has discussed his regret over having to leave the hit series, and lamented that he’s too “ruddy old” to lead a prequel for his ill-fated character.<\/p>\n
The actor played DI Richard Poole<\/a> in the first two seasons of the Caribbean-set mystery drama, before bowing out in a shocking storyline that saw the detective himself become a murder victim.<\/p>\n The nature of his departure has made it difficult for Miller to make subsequent appearances in the so-called ‘Paraverse’, in contrast to later stars Kris Marshall (now leading Beyond Paradise<\/a>) and Ardal O’Hanlon (a recent guest in Return to Paradise<\/a>).<\/p>\n Miller has found further sleuthing success as the title character in ITV’s Professor T<\/a>, but told Radio Times that he would still like another shot at the late DI Poole.<\/p>\n Want to see this content?<\/p>\n Accept and continue<\/p>\n “If I wasn’t so ruddy old, I could play him in a prequel,” joked Miller. “I loved the character and I loved the show. It just came at a slightly unfortunate time in my life.”<\/p>\n The difficult timing concerned his then-imminent fatherhood, which made long stretches spent away from home an impossibility.<\/p>\n He continued: “But I do really miss that character. And funnily enough [Paraverse creator and writer] Rob Thorogood has carried on writing stories for Richard Poole, which is quite fun, so that’s a nice way to live the character again.”<\/p>\n Indeed, Thorogood has penned four novels starring DI Poole, which were first published between 2015 and 2018, in the years following Miller’s exit from Death in Paradise.<\/p>\n Miller’s departure inadvertently set a template that Death in Paradise still follows to this day, with lead detectives on the drama typically staying on for a few seasons before passing the coveted gig on to the next person.<\/p>\n Don Gilet (EastEnders) currently fronts the series as DI Mervin Wilson, following in the footsteps of Miller, Marshall, O’Hanlon and Ralf Little.<\/p>\n Death in Paradise is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.<\/p>\n Check out more of our Drama<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a> to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n