The “cosy crime” genre is nothing new, but it’s showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, hit UK series Death In Paradise has added an Aussie spin-off to the “Paraverse” – and it’s a project that confessed murder mystery “loser” Anna Samson is thrilled to be a part of.
“I grew up on Agatha Christie – reading Agatha Christie and watching Agatha Christie,” Anna, 34, who moved to Australia from England in her early teens, tells TV WEEK. “And also watching procedurals and murder mysteries on the BBC.”
Being cast as the lead detective in Return To Paradise is a dream for Anna, who gained plenty of fans playing personal trainer Mia Anderson in Home And Away from 2021 to 2022 – a job she describes as “chalk and cheese” compared to her new gig.
“It’s a very different character,” she explains. “I’m so excited about this show. [I’m] the first female [lead] in the franchise. It just feels like the Paraverse is really expanding.”
Anna leads the Aussie series as Detective Inspector Mackenzie Clarke, a prickly expat cop who returns to her fictional coastal home town of Dolphin Cove after working in London’s Metropolitan Police for the past six years.
“I love Mackenzie and think she’s actually teaching me quite a lot,” she says of her on-screen alter ego. “She’s a character who doesn’t particularly worry if people like her. She’ll leave
a conversation if she finds it boring. She’d leave a party if she found it boring and wouldn’t say goodbye to anyone.
“I think having that ‘upfrontness’ is very liberating for a woman.”
Anna admits she does find it hard to switch off after being in character all day.
“I take her home with me a bit,” she says. “I have to do so much preparation, so the job doesn’t end at the end of the shoot day. It’s an all-consuming job, but it’s brilliant to have a job like this. It’s rare that these types of roles come along.”
The ensemble cast is bolstered by Catherine McClements as Mackenzie’s boss (and former mother-in-law-to-be); Tai Hara as her rather dreamy ex-fiancé Glenn; and Celia Ireland as nosy police volunteer Reggie Rocco.
Anna says her co-stars are a huge part of why she’s loving the new role so much.
“One of the delights of the show is the people I’m working with,” she says. “The cast are, in every way, brilliant: brilliant actors, brilliant humans, brilliant ensemble players, brilliant support. Because I’m in so much of the show, it’s very special to be held by such kind, generous, powerhouses of actors.”
While the show is set in a tiny tropical paradise, it’s actually filmed in the NSW city of Wollongong and in parts of Sydney. The cast and crew had to contend with rather wet conditions when it filmed earlier this year, but for a UK native, that was nothing new.
“I love being on location, because it’s a beautiful part of the world,” Anna says. “Actually, I don’t mind the rain. Like my character, I’m a big fan of London – it’s my favourite city in the world. And you have to like the rain to love London.”
So is a return to the land of her birth on the cards in the future?
“I’d love to be in the UK,” Anna says. “There are a lot of family and friends there. The theatre scene in London is something that appeals to me greatly. But I have a very beautiful, happy life in Australia as well. We’ve got aeroplanes – I could do both!”
Return To Paradise airs Sunday, 7.30pm on ABC.
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