DEATH In Paradise viewers have been quick to slam the BBC after a huge format change.
It came after the show’s loyal fans were left gobsmacked with a plot twist “no one saw coming” in Friday’s instalment.
The BBC Caribbean crime series, which is now in its 14th series, returned to screens earlier this month.
Yet Friday’s Death In Paradise episode, which saw DI Mervin Wilson (Don Gilet) and his team travel to Ambrose Distillery, eagle-eyed viewers were sceptical of a format change.
It came after business owner Patrick Ambrose (Ansu Kabia) was poisoned while drinking a glass of rum.
His sudden death came as he’d been on the verge of selling up the distillery.
But a major plot twist revealed the dead man was, in fact, not Patrick Ambrose at all and the real Patrick’s sister, Cora (Madeline Appiah), was unmasked as the murderer in the end.
Yet while fans were baffled by both the dead man’s identity and that of the killer, they took issue with how the culprit was exposed.
They flagged how, ordinarily, the show’s suspects will be gathered together in one room before the culprit is unmasked.
Yet they told how it felt “wrong” to see Cora’s criminal identity revealed without the rest of those under question accompanying her.
One fan on X commented how it was a fresh milestone for the long-running series and put: “The first time all the suspects are not together!”
Another added: “I don’t like they have broke tradition here in not gathering the suspects…….how dare they.”
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Death In Paradise fans gobsmacked by plot twist ‘no one saw coming’ after new series slammed” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6369162703112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]A third then wrote: “This is the first time they haven’t got all the suspects together to reveal the murderer.”
One added a warning for show bosses and wrote: “This better not become the norm.
“It just ruins the tradition of the show.”
SHOCK EXIT
The format tweak came after fans were convinced the show had “run its course” as a major character hinted at their exit.
Commissioner Selwyn Patterson (Don Warrington) has been a fixture of the Saint Marie crime-fighting team from the very first episode.
Earlier this month, the character learned he was to be “phased out” due to budget cuts, with even his idyllic corner of the world not safe from economic strife.
He told his colleagues at the beach bar: “I’m afraid they can, and they are.”
Viewers aren’t happy, with one writing on X: “They can’t just get rid of Selwyn as the commissioner in death in paradise what will he do?”
The show has reinvented itself multiple times over the years, successfully switching its leading man time and time again.
It began with Ben Miller as Detective Inspector Richard Poole in series one and two, then Kris Marshall took over as Humphrey Goodman; he was followed by Ardal O’Hanlon as Jack Mooney, Ralf Little had a four-series run as Neville Parker, before Don Gilet was handed the baton as Mervin Wilson.
And Mervin’s tenure kicked off with a big surprise as one of his colleagues, new officer Benjamin Brice, died just minutes into the episode.
