On Location peels back the curtain on some of your favourite films, television shows, and more. This time, we ask where is Beyond Paradise filmed?
When Detective Inspector Humphrey Goodman (played by Kris Marshall) left the paradisiacal, albeit fictional, Caribbean island of Saint Marie at the end of series six in February 2017, millions of Brits missed watching his detective skills play out across the island. Luckily, the BBC’s June 2022 announcement of a spin-off series starring Kris Marshall and Sally Bretton among its lead characters came as a very welcome surprise. Series one of Beyond Paradise arrived in February 2023 and, as a result of its success, spring 2026 saw the fourth series of the team’s adventures screened across the BBC and Britbox.
Beyond Paradise follows DI Humphrey Goodman after he leaves the dazzling shores of Saint Marie behind to be with Martha Lloyd (played by Sally Bretton). In the fictional seaside town of Shipton Abbott, near the Devon coast, the couple navigate their relationship and their family dynamic amid the myriad mysterious cases that present themselves to the team at the small local police station.
Besides the twists, turns and chemistry of the beloved lead characters, there’s another reason each series has attracted an average of five million viewers per episode – the backdrop to which all the drama and heartwarming moments feature. While the Devon town of Shipton Abbott may be a figment of the screenwriters’ – and viewers’ – imagination, much of Beyond Paradise is filmed across Cornwall. The series’ popularity has caused something of a tourist boom for the areas seen in recent years, too, with travellers flocking to the picturesque places seen on-screen; thankfully, with more dramatic scenery than murderous drama.
What can viewers expect in series four of Beyond Paradise?
As DI Humphrey Goodman and the Shipton Abbott team return for a fourth outing, a fresh wave of mysteries present themselves. There’s the suspicious death of a crime novelist, an intruder who returns to meddle with the crime scene they created, and a witness who claims it was, in fact, a mermaid who has wrecked a local seaweed farm. Beyond the station and drama among Shipton Abbott’s residents, series four sees Humphrey and Martha launch themselves into married life while searching for a new place to call home. Elsewhere across town, Anne (Martha’s mother, played by Barbara Flynn) rises to new heights as a local councillor, Detective Sergeant Esther Williams (Zahra Ahmadi) has past decisions return to haunt her, and Kelby (Dylan Llewellyn) sees his dating life take an unexpected turn when he meets someone online, but all may not be as it seems.
