Return to Paradise premieres Sunday 8 September 7.30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview
Return to Paradise is Australia’s original spin-off series of the global smash-hit murder mystery franchise Death in Paradise.
Filmed at locations across Sydney and the idyllic Illawarra coastal region, the intriguing and whodunit six-part series has a distinctively Australian flare, while playing homage to the Death in Paradise universe.
Synopsis and lead character Mackenzie Clarke
Australian expat DI Mackenzie Clarke is renowned for cracking impossible murder cases in her adopted home of London, working under former Detective Inspector Jack Mooney. But a court mishap sees Mackenzie flee England under a cloud of suspicion; she’s been accused of falsifying evidence. With her reputation in the balance, she hopes to keep a low profile in Australia until her name is cleared. Unfortunately for Mackenzie, with national police hiring freeze, the only job on offer is in her old hometown…
Dolphin Cove is a tropical paradise on the spectacular New South Wales coast… and Mackenzie’s worst nightmare. To her, it’s a stifling town where everybody knows everyone’s business.
Now Mackenzie is stuck in Dolphin Cove and hating it. The locals aren’t happy she’s back either. She’s hardly popular in town after infamously leaving her fiancé Glenn standing at the altar six years ago.
All this hostility and disdain makes it difficult to investigate murders, so Mackenzie will need to lean on her team of new co-workers to help solve her cases. Not easy for a notorious loner and to make things more difficult, her boss, Sergeant Philomena Strong, also happens to be Mack’s ex mentor and Glenn’s mother.
But the secret weapon in any case is Mackenzie’s particular skill in zeroing in on the odd and askew details in a mystery. Whether it’s an odd sock, a missing button, or a pie in the wrong place at the wrong time, Mackenzie will hyperfocus on every element, obsessively shifting the perspective on any aspect of the crime until she gets the full picture.
Return to Paradise on TV Gold
Listen to the Mediaweek TV critics Andrew Mercado and James Manning as they discuss Return to Paradise and the residents at Dolphin Cover. Also in this episode, a review of Nine’s new Australian drama Human Error.
Listen to TV Gold here.
Meet the characters at Dolphin Cove
The rest of Mackenzie’s team question her esoteric investigation style, especially Detective Senior Constable Colin Cartwright – a British migrant, and Dolphin Cove enthusiast, who has eyes on Mackenzie’s position. Rounding out the team are rule-loving, by-the-book Constable Felix Wilkinson, Mackenzie’s eccentric former schoolteacher (and local-gossip), police volunteer Reggie Rocco. And the kicker? Mack’s ex-fiancée Glenn is Dolphin Cove Police’s forensic pathologist.
DI Mackenzie Clarke (Anna Samson)
Mackenzie fears that things will be unbearable between her and Glenn, but starts to realise there might be the chance of closure. But if there ever was the chance of anything more, it’s hard to see it happening when Glenn’s moved on with the town sweetheart – everyone’s favourite, Daisy Dixon. Even Mackenzie likes her, and Mack only likes her dog.
It’s going to be hard. Hard though, is nothing for Mackenzie Clarke. Once a case lands on her desk, she can’t rest until she’s figured it out, and the killer is in handcuffs. It’s that tenacity and work ethic that might just, over time, help Mackenzie win over her new colleagues, and the people of Dolphin Cove.
Production credits
Commissioned by the ABC. Produced by BBC Studios Productions Australia, Red Planet Pictures. Created and Executive Produced by Peter Mattessi, James Hall and Robert Thorogood. Producer: Diane Haddon. Executive Producers for BBC Studios Productions Australia are Kylie Washington and Warren Clarke, for Red Planet Pictures are Belinda Campbell and Tim Key and for ABC are Rachel Okine and Brett Sleigh.
Who’s Who in Return to Paradise
Anna Samson as DI Mackenzie Clarke
A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, Anna has gone on to perform extensively in theatre, film and television.
Anna’s film credits include Children of the Corn, Crime & Punishment and What if it Works?
Anna appeared in Wake in Fright, as well as Dead Lucky (SBS) and Jack Irish (ABC). Anna’s selected television credits include the HBO drama series The Leftovers, Hunters, Winners and Losers, Offspring, Halifax, Home and Away and The Doctor Blake Murder Mysteries.
Anna was nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role for Birdland. She was also nominated for a Green Room Award for Best Female Actor for Wet House and a Sydney Theatre Award nomination for Best Performance in a Leading Role in an Independent Production for Consent. Anna received an Ozflicks Independent Film Award for Actress in a Leading Role for What if It Works? She has also received a Glug Award nomination for LOVE. Anna is a previous Australian Counsel for the Arts grant recipient. Anna was awarded the John Tallis award for excellence while at drama school and is currently a Masters student at The University of Sydney.
Colin Cartwright (Lloyd Griffith)
Lloyd Griffith as Detective Senior Constable Colin Cartwright
Lloyd Griffith is an actor and comedian from Grimsby, UK.
As an actor Lloyd’s screen credits include roles in all three series of Emmy Award winning Ted Lasso (Apple), Russell T Davies’ mini-series Nolly in which he plays much loved ‘Benny’ aka ‘Paul Henry’ from Crossroads, opposite Helena Bonham Carter (ITV), Bad Education (BBC Three), Brassic (Sky), Everyone Else Burns (C4), It’s a Sin (C4), Not Going Out (BBC One) and feature films Infinite, Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunch Break and The People We Hate at the Wedding (Amazon Prime).
Lloyd was awarded the Screen Actors Guild Award Honours for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for Ted Lasso Series 2.
As a comedian Lloyd has supported Jack Whitehall on his last three live tours playing iconic venues including Liverpool Echo, Newcastle Metro, Manchester, Leeds, London O2 and Wembley Arenas. Lloyd has embarked on four of his own nationwide solo tours, his most recent show One Tonne of Fun was recorded as a comedy special and is currently available to watch on ITVX.
Glenn Strong (Tia Hara)
Tai Hara as Glenn Strong
Tai Hara is a well renowned Australian actor and filmmaker best known for his starring role in the iconic Australian television series Home and Away (2013-2016).
Hara has also featured in popular series such as Terra Nova (2011), Hyde and Seek (2016), Seal Team (2017), Madam Secretary (2019), Preacher (2019), Underbelly: Vanishing Act (2021), Colin from Accounts (2022) and he will soon be seen in the second series, as well as the ABC comedy Austin. Tai‘s work in film includes the Dev Patel produced Sahela (2023) and he has recently wrapped on the feature Birthright.
In 2023, Hara made his Sydney Theatre Company debut in their production On the Beach, directed by Kip Williams.
Hara competed as a celebrity contestant on Dancing With The Stars (2014), raising money for YGAP (Y-Generation Against Poverty) where he continues to be an ambassador. Hara also devotes his time to another ambassadorship with AIME (Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience).
Hara is also the co-founder of the production company Bag of Marbles and creator of the popular web series Colour Blind. Hara has produced, written and starred in films such as Best Mates (2016), Final Resting Pose (2018) and TEDx’s A Low Hum (2018).
Sgt Philomena (Catherine McClements)
Catherine McClements as Senior Sergeant Philomena Strong
Catherine McClements most recently appeared in the award-winning ABC series Total Control, the SBS anthology series Erotic Stories and The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart for Amazon Prime. She will next be seen in Netflix series’ The Survivors and Apple Cider Vinegar.
Catherine’s other television credits include the Network Seven series Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, Netflix series Pieces of Her alongside Toni Collette and David Wenham, the HBO series The Leftovers, Network Ten series Sisters, ABC series The Beautiful Lie, Rake and Time of Our Lives, Foxtel series Wentworth, Showtime’s Tangle, Network Ten’s drama series Rush, The Pacific, Crashburn, The Secret Life of Us, Water Rats, Waiting at the Royals, Call Me Mum, Tomorrow’s End, My Brother Tom, and the telemovies’ The Broken Shore, After the Deluge, Mary Bryant and The Falls. Her performance in Tangle earned her the 2010 AFI Award for Best Actress in a Television Drama, two ASTRA Awards for Most Outstanding Performance by an Actress in 2011 and 2013, and a Silver Logie Award nomination for Most Outstanding Actress in 2013. Catherine’s performance in Water Rats earned her a Silver Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actress while her guest role in The Secret Life of Us saw her awarded the AFI Award for Best Actress in a Guest Role in a TV Drama Series.
Catherine received an AFI Award for Best Actress in her feature film debut, Weekend with Kate, directed by Arch Nicholson. She has also appeared in The Menkoff Method, Floodhouse, Jonathan Teplitzky’s Better Than Sex, The Right Hand Man, Struck by Lightning, Just Us and Redheads for which she was voted Best Supporting Actress at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival in Japan.
Const Felix Wilkinson (Aaron McGrath)
Aaron McGrath as Constable Felix Wilkinson
Aaron McGrath is an Indigenous actor whose family comes from Gulargambone, a small town in the central west plains of New South Wales, Australia.
Born in 1996, he grew up in Redfern Sydney he has established a presence on screens and in theatres both nationally and internationally, small and large.
His breakthrough role in 2012 was playing Joel Shields on the hit Australian TV series Redfern Now and his success has continued with other major TV credits including The Gods of Wheat Street, In Your Dreams, political thriller The Code, The Doctor Blake Mysteries , the two-part mini-series of the classic Australian Story The Secret River, Ready For This, Doctor Doctor, Wrong Kind of Black, Mystery Road, KGB, Thalu, Black Comedy, Glitch Series 1,2 and 3 and Preppers. Most recently Aaron appeared in the ABC series Golddiggers.
In 2013 he landed in his first full length feature film with Christina Ricci in Around the Block. Aaron’s major cinematic breakthrough came when he worked with Indigenous director Rachel Perkins alongside Australian legends Hugo Weaving and Toni Collette, playing the title role in Jasper Jones. The film was based on the book of the same title and deals with racial inequality and was therefore dubbed Australia’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, receiving 7 AACTA nominations. His next major role was playing Private Brian Hornung in Danger Close, the Australian war film about The Battle of Long Tan.
Reggie Rocco (Celia Ireland)
Celia Ireland as Reggie Rocco
Celia Ireland has worked extensively in film, television and theatre and has garnered several awards and nominations throughout her long career.
Most notably, her role as Lizzie Birdsworth in the internationally acclaimed Australian television drama, Wentworth, for which she received several nominations and a win at the Logie Awards, for Most Outstanding Supporting Actress. Her work in the feature film Australian Rules led to a Best Supporting Actress win at the Film Critics Circle Awards of Australia.
Some of her other film roles include Rogue, an independent horror film, Goddess, a musical comedy, and the thriller Cactus, in which she starred alongside Bryan Brown. Also, prolific in her television performances, Celia has appeared in many Australian dramas including, Home and Away, Packed to the Rafters, All Saints, Police Rescue, and many others. Her more recent television appearances include the multi award winning Redfern Now Series 2, Rake Series 3, Five Bedrooms for Network Ten and the critically acclaimed Total Control produced by Blackfella Films for ABC.
Daisy Dixon (Andrea Demetriades)
Andrea Demetriades as Daisy Dixon
Andrea Demetriades studied Dance at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, and Communications and Cultural Studies at Curtin University.
She graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) with a Bachelor of Dramatic Art (Acting) degree in 2006.
Demetriades is best known for her role as Lina Badir in the television series Crownies. She reprised the role for the spin-off series Janet King. Her television credits are a long list spanning from All Saints, Mr & Mrs Murder, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. She has also appeared in the critically acclaimed 2015 Australian drama series The Principal as Hafa Habeb. In 2017 she starred in both the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s TV series Seven Types of Ambiguity, and Pulse as Doctor Lou Tannis. In 2018 she also starred in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s TV series Squinters.
Numerous television roles came along in 2019 including See Saw’s The End, STAN’s The Commons right through to most recently Clickbait, Amazing Grace and Aquarius Films The Unusual Suspects. Andrea was most recently seen in TV series The Claremont Murders for Channel Seven and Disney series The Artful Dodger opposite Thomas Brodie-Sangster and David Thewlis.
Demetriades has featured in the films Nerve, Around the Block, Alex and Eve and Babyteeth, which had its premiere in the 2019 Venice Film Festival.
Where did they film Return to Paradise?
Dolphin Cove is the quintessential Australian beach side town – golden sand, a protected cove where locals swim and surf every morning, and a dramatic escarpment behind where the mountains tumble down to the sea. The fictional town was filmed primarily on location in the Illawarra region, just south of Sydney, as well as on Sydney’s northern beaches.
The Illawarra has not been seen often on Australian television, but for the creators of Return to Paradise, it offered so much of what they wanted for the show.
Peter Mattessi said: “I’m from Melbourne and had never been to that part of the New South Wales coast before. But I instantly felt an emotional connection. It has a warmth and a welcoming vibe. And then geographically it had everything – beautiful beaches, the escarpment which is so dramatic, the ocean pools, beautiful trees and charming houses.
“The other significant locations that we needed and couldn’t quite find in the Illawarra were the surf club and Mackenzie’s house. Spiritually Dolphin Cove is the Illawarra, but we’ve melded it together with parts of the northern beaches of Sydney, with the Surf Club at Bilgola and Mackenzie’s house in Avalon.”
Director Mat King said: “I think audiences around the world are going to be excited by the locations. It’s Australia, but not in a classic way. We don’t have kangaroos, we don’t have koalas. We’ve got sun and surf and blue skies, the beaches, the forests, the cliffs, but we’re not seeing the red deserts.”
Production Designer Emma Fletcher is originally from Western Australia and well used to filming in Australia’s remote, red dust. She loved the challenge of creating a different, more light-hearted world, in the subtropical eastern seaboard.
“It was my first time working in Sydney and on our first location recce down to the Illawarra, I was thinking that it was the most beautiful, marvellous place – the greens and the plants, it’s so lush. It’s a very beautiful part of the world, and completely ideal for our show.”
In preparing for the show, Emma watched many episodes of Death in Paradise and was struck by its colour and vibrancy. It was something she and set-up director Mat King sought to replicate in Return to Paradise.
“The original is joyous to watch and unashamedly colourful. When I start on a job, I ask myself why are we shooting this story in this place, at this time? For this show, beauty was central. We thought a lot about Australian architecture and what we might find beautiful and nostalgic, such as the old bowls clubs and surf clubs by the ocean and the ocean pools. It’s almost like we’ve been tourists creating a postcard about the beauty of Australia.”
It’s a world that the creators hope audiences will embrace.
“I think viewers are going to really fall in love with Return to Paradise. It’s got all of the twists and turns of the puzzle murder mystery; it’s got a great ensemble cast full of great Aussie characters set in spectacular Australian landscapes. Plus, we’ve also got great narrative threads featuring our ensemble cast that I think audiences will enjoy coming along for the ride. It’s a great mix!” Kylie Washington says.
Peter Mattessi concluded: “We welcome everyone to be a Return to Paradise fan. What you’ll get is a delightful hour’s entertainment where a mystery will be posed, and at the end of it, you’ll have an answer. Maybe you figured it out along the way with Mackenzie. Maybe you’re smarter than her. Maybe you’re not. If you’re like me and you just enjoy watching charming characters relate to each other and have some laughs in a beautiful coastal setting, then this is also for you.”
Return to Paradise Episode Guide
There are just six episodes in the first season of Return to Paradise.
EPISODE 1: R.I.P. Tide
Written by: Peter Mattessi
Director: Mat King
Guest cast: Ardal O’Hanlon (DI Jack Mooney), Jenni Baird (Susan Stirling), Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (Stuart Granger), Stephen Hunter (Grant Edgar), Dylan Hare (Zayne Wyatt) Vivienne Awosoga (Becky Hayden), Genevieve Lemon (Madge Woodburne) and Ron Smyck (Trevor Bongiovanni)
Synopsis: Brilliant ex-pat DI Mackenzie Clarke (Anna Samson) has fled London amid controversy, returning to the last place she ever wanted to be – her small, coastal hometown of Dolphin Cove. But when local royalty Stuart Granger washes ashore with a knife in his back in the middle of a surf carnival, Mackenzie must rely on the residents of Dolphin Cove to help her solve the case. It’s a pity they all hate her…
EPISODE 2: Dead Last
Written by: Peter Mattessi
Director: Mat King
Guest cast: Naomi Sequeira (Jade McCready), Callan Colley (Curtis Faleafa), Roy Joseph (Nick Dosanjh), Alan Dukes (Keith Cole) and Genevieve Lemon (Madge Woodburne)
EPISODE 3: Curl Up and Dye
Written by: Elizabeth Coleman
Director: Mat King
Guest cast: Airlie Dodds (Bianca Bailey), Tess Haubrich (Skye Bailey), Natalie Abbott (Tahnee Jones), Anni Finsterer (Donna Smithwick) and Jason Chong (Troy Lexton)
EPISODE 4: Killer Climate
Written by: Alexandra Collier
Director: Tenika Smith
Guest cast: Harry Greenwood (Byron), Hugo Johnstone Burt (Henry), Arka Das (Ken), Deborah Kennedy (Maggie) and Maia Thomas (Fiona)
EPISODE 5: Dead Bowl
Written by: Kodie Bedford
Director: Tenika Smith
Guest cast: Peter O’Brien (Artie), Tara Morice (Helen), Christopher Stollery (Ted), – Justin Smith (Mal) and Maggie Dence (Rita)
EPISODE 6: Oh Mine Papa
Written by: Peter Mattessi
Director: Tenika Smith
Guest cast: Ardal O’Hanlon (DI Jack Mooney), Peter Phelps (Vince), Sarah Roberts (Priya), Nicole Nabout (Dot), Yazeed Daher (Finn), Roxie Mohebbi (Lottie) and Ron Smyck (Trevor Bongiovanni)