Words: Adrian Lobb
Ralf Little is leaving Death in Paradise. It’s official. And just 12 hours after we watched DI Neville Parker sailing off into the sunset on BBC One, the actor was on the line to The Big Issue for an exclusive exit interview. Little found fame as a teenager in The Royle Family and went on to appear in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and 24 Hour Party People, as well as co-writing sitcom The Cafe. Death in Paradise was his first leading role in a primetime drama, and we invited him in for a debrief.
THE BIG ISSUE: Thank you for coming to your exit interview. When you took this job, what did you hope to bring to the position of star of Death in Paradise? RALF LITTLE: When I got the job, my mum famously said: “A lot of people like that show, don’t ruin it!” So that was my main ambition. But I wanted to prove to myself and the world that I was capable of leading a show. And you never know until you do it. In my career I’ve shown I can be irreverent or lighthearted and hit comic beats – but I relished the scope for showing a range of emotions.
What did you do to fit in with the way Death in Paradise works?
We know what our format is. We know there will be a case, a murder, and that we have an hour to solve it. But you also have to be vulnerable or heartbroken or unreasonable or angry and you have to be able to switch tone in a believable way. And the more we dig into the characters and give them challenges and happiness and heartbreak, the stronger the show gets. It’s given me great confidence going forward.
How do you think you fared taking on a leadership role at Death in Paradise?
I’ve been incredibly lucky to have the career I’ve had. But until I was 39 years old, everything I had been in that had been a success was a big ensemble show. Leading a show is a big responsibility and I’d never had the chance to shoulder that so you never know if you can do it. No one took the gamble on me before. Death in Paradise is beloved by millions. I was a fan before I went in. So it was an incredible challenge and unbelievably daunting. But it was so satisfying and exciting to make it work. Also, it didn’t hurt that I was doing it in the Caribbean.
How did you enjoy the Death in Paradise office in Guadeloupe?
It’s a magical island. There’s not a huge tourist industry, there’s no big resort, so Guadeloupe is a functioning Caribbean island where we were lucky enough to be welcomed to do the work we do. And th
