by Death in Paradise celebrated its 100th episode in a big way, by letting viewers in on the fate of Commissioner Selwyn Patterson (Don Warrington) after he was shot in a mystery attack.
Warning: This article contains some spoilers for series 13 episode one of Death in Paradise
Series 13 of the BBC show opens when the fan favourite, who has been a staple of the Saint Marie police since season one, is attacked outside a party celebrating five decades on the force. Viewers were forced to wait with bated breath to see if the character made it through, but Warrington tells Yahoo and other publications that he never believed Selwyn would be killed off.
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Answering “no” when asked if he was worried about the possibility, Warrington says: “I thought it was a very clever thing to do. [the writer’s] part, in fact, because it kind of includes the whole series. I mean from the beginning there were elements of everything, that was really the celebration. I read very quickly, I got to the end.”
The actor admits he “absolutely” turned to the end of the script to check his character’s fate, but that didn’t mean he cared. The scene of the attack itself was quite dramatic, and the actor had to do a stunt that saw him fall into the ocean after being shot.
Warrington proudly admits he did his own stunt work in the show, adding: “I loved it, actually. You get to a certain age and people think you’re fragile, you break. [The stunt team] they were great, they were great great.
“They protected me like I was something from the crown jewels, I was surrounded by people in the water and they were waiting for me, it was amazing. But I insisted, ‘I can do it and I am to swim out.’ So I love doing that, I really, really did. And it was really nice to see how much affection people had, they were really concerned.”
Not only is the episode an emotional rollercoaster for Selwyn, it’s also difficult for other members of the team like Neville Parker (Ralf Little) and Naomi Thomas (Shantol Jackson). The actors reflect on the impact of the incident on their characters, adding that they wanted to “make it as believable as possible.”
Jackson says: “I know for Neville they have this relationship that they have, which is ‘do I like him? Do he like me? But for Naomi, and I mean for all of us in general, the Commissioner is beloved, he is loved within the police force on the island.
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“It’s one thing to think that someone is coming to the Department, but coming for the Commissioner and then not knowing what the outcome is, is it okay? Is that exactly what happened? Who would do such a thing?” And there were so many questions And there was this urgency and importance to find this person and get some answers At some point we felt like, ‘Are we doing enough? Are we getting justice for him? Enough?'”
She continues: “Filming it and being in the moment, just after reading the script, there was so much anxiety and ‘Oh my God, how are we going to do this to make it so believable as possible?” Because it was a beautiful script, a beautiful story.
“Of course we want to deliver for the audience, but also to see how we consider ourselves as a family within that department, and to see how we are affected, I’m sure it will be a blast for the audience.”
Parker agreed with his co-star, sharing: “There was a real urgency to this one that went beyond professionalism because this is personal. It’s very personal and for Neville in particular, [there’s] this thought of ‘do I even really like him?’
“It was really beautiful to read the [script]. It was so well written, you know when the chips are down this is the Commissioner and all of a sudden there’s no doubt that their relationship seems very close that there’s real care. And that was lovely for me to play as well, so I think it’s a great episode. I hope people enjoy it as much as we enjoyed filming it.”
Death in Paradise continues series 13 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Sunday at 9pm.
Watch the trailer for Death in Paradise season 13:
