Death in Paradise & Beyond Paradise Christmas Specials 2025: Cast and Plots
Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise Christmas specials 2025 bring Ted Lasso stars, Doctor Who favourites, and comedy legends to festive murder mysteries in Saint Marie and Devon. Full cast lists, plot details, and air date info inside. Get the complete guide now!
Introduction
The BBC dropped the full details on November 18, 2025, and both Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise are getting proper Christmas specials this year – the kind that actually feel worth staying in for. Death in Paradise keeps its streak going (this will be the fifth festive episode since they started in 2021), while Beyond Paradise gets its third.
These specials matter because they’re the only time the shows slow down enough to let the characters breathe between murders, and they still pull massive consolidated numbers – the 2024 Death in Paradise Christmas special ended up with 7.8 million viewers once iPlayer catches were added.
For once, both episodes were announced together, which makes total sense because the casts now overlap in funny ways (two Ted Lasso actors split across the two shows) and the plots lean hard into Christmas chaos. Death in Paradise gives us a villa party murder with the weapon locked in a drawer in Swindon, Beyond Paradise has a man with amnesia clutching Humphrey’s photo and another bloke literally trapped in a snowman costume.
Real escapism when the weather outside is rubbish. Fans on X went properly mad within hours of the announcement – posts calling it “the best Christmas TV news of the year” were everywhere by Tuesday night. If you’ve been watching since Ben Miller grumbled his way through season 1, or you only jumped on with Ralf Little’s Neville, these specials are basically mandatory holiday viewing. Here’s absolutely everything we know so far.
Death in Paradise Christmas Special 2025: The Core Plot and How It Works
Four co-workers rent a luxury villa on Saint Marie for the office Christmas party of all time. They wake up the next morning, hungover, to find a complete stranger dead in the swimming pool. The team identifies the murder weapon fast – but it was locked in a drawer in their company office in Swindon at the exact time of the killing. Thousands of miles away. Impossible crime, classic Death in Paradise setup.
This is the kind of puzzle the show has been doing brilliantly for 14 seasons, but the Swindon element makes it feel fresh because the suspects are all stuck on the island while the vital evidence is back in the UK. The team has to phone in help from a “familiar face” – everyone is betting on a past detective or maybe even a Humphrey cameo, though nothing is confirmed. Meanwhile Mervin Wilson is waiting on a call from the brother he only just found out about, so he’s grumpy and distracted and not joining in the island Christmas stuff at all.
The plot forces him to sort his head out or let the team down.
Why this works: the show has always been good at making the impossible feel solvable in 90 minutes, and sticking the weapon in Swindon adds modern remote-work ridiculousness without breaking the rules. Past Christmas specials have played with snow machines and Santa suits; this one plays with distance. Expect timestamps, CCTV, maybe a Zoom call gone wrong. The reveal will be clean, fair, and satisfying – that’s non-negotiable for the audience that’s stuck with the show this long.
The Death in Paradise Guest Cast: Who’s Actually Joining Don Gilet on Saint Marie
This year’s guest list is stupidly strong.
Josie Lawrence – proper comedy royalty from Outside Edge and Whose Line Is It Anyway? – is coming. Kate Ashfield (Shaun of the Dead Liz) is in the mix. Pearl Mackie (Bill from Doctor Who) is there. James Baxter (Waterloo Road’s bad boy turned teacher). Billy Harris (Colin from Ted Lasso). Plus Oriana Charles and Alix Serman rounding out the villa group.
That’s seven big guest names for one episode, which is a lot even for Death in Paradise. Usually they have four or five or six, but this feels like they’re going for a real ensemble feel. All seven are almost certainly the office party crowd – four main coworkers plus maybe partners or plus-ones – because the plot needs multiple people with access to both the villa and the Swindon office. Billy Harris being in this one and his Ted Lasso co-star James Lance in Beyond Paradise is genuinely funny casting.
Don Gilet is back as DI Mervin Wilson alongside Shantol Jackson (Naomi), Ginny Holder (Darlene), Shaquille Ali-Yebuah (Sebastian), and Élizabeth Bourgine (Catherine). The regulars get proper stuff to do – Naomi will probably push Mervin to open up, Darlene will organise island Christmas whether he likes it or not. Expect Catherine to flirt with someone inappropriate again.
This cast is the strongest Christmas line-up since the one with Florence in it. No weak links.
Beyond Paradise Christmas Special 2025: Humphrey Goodman’s Devon Chaos
Kris Marshall is back in Devon as DI Humphrey Goodman, and the plot is peak Beyond Paradise absurdity.
A man is found on the steps of Shipton Abbott police station with total amnesia – but he’s holding a photograph of Humphrey. At the same time the team have a string of festive crimes to deal with, Martha is frantically trying to pull off a secret plan with Anne, Zoe and a special guest, and Kelby is trying to free a man physically trapped inside a snowman costume. Proper British Christmas nonsense.
Guest stars: Adrian Edmondson (Bottom, Young Ones), James Lance (Trent Crimm from Ted Lasso), and Jonny Weldon (One Day, House of the Dragon). Edmondson is almost certainly the amnesia guy – the plot screams “big comic actor playing someone who can’t remember who he is”. Lance and Weldon will be mixed into the other cases or Martha’s scheme.
The tone is lighter than the main show – more comedy, more heart, less sun – but the mystery still has to land. Last year’s Beyond Paradise Christmas special did 6.4 million consolidated, so the BBC knows it works. This one looks even bigger.
How the Two Specials Connect – And Why the Shared Universe Is Paying Off
The BBC is clearly treating these as sister shows now. Two Ted Lasso actors split across them. Both specials lean hard into personal stories – Mervin’s brother, Humphrey’s photo mystery – while still delivering the case-of-the-week goods. There’s even Return to Paradise (the Australian spin-off) confirmed for a second season, so the franchise is properly expanding.
Death in Paradise started in 2011. Five lead detectives so far: Ben Miller, Kris Marshall, Ardal O’Hanlon, Ralf Little, now Don Gilet. The fact Marshall is still getting Christmas specials in the spin-off shows how much the audience loves Humphrey. Ratings prove it – whenever a past detective cameos, numbers jump. Expect whoever the “familiar face” is in the Saint Marie episode to be someone we’ve met before.
These Christmas specials are now the glue holding the whole universe together. Watch both or you’re only getting half the story.
What Fans Are Saying One Day After the Announcement
As of November 19, 2025, X is absolutely buzzing. “Adrian Edmondson in Beyond Paradise is the casting I didnuesta know I needed” has thousands of likes. Pearl Mackie trending in the UK for a bit yesterday evening. Someone posted side-by-side photos of Billy Harris and James Lance with the caption “Ted Lasso writers room clearly loves Death in Paradise” and it’s on 12k likes already.
The Swindon weapon thing has people properly theorising – half think it’s a twin weapon, half think it’s a timed mechanism. Mervin’s brother storyline has the Don Gilet fans emotional. General mood: this is the best Christmas TV line-up the BBC has had in years. No complaints yet, which is rare.
FAQs
When do the Death in Paradise Christmas special 2025 air?
No exact date yet, but it’ll be BBC One and iPlayer, late December, probably December 22 or 26 based on past years. Beyond Paradise usually airs a day or two earlier or later. Both will be on iPlayer straight away.
Who is the “familiar face” in the Death in Paradise special?
Not confirmed. Top guesses: Ralf Little (Neville), Kris Marshall (Humphrey crossover), or even Ben Miller (Poole hallucination again). My money’s on Neville – the audience still misses him.
Adrian Edmondson playing the amnesia guy with amnesia in Beyond Paradise?
Almost certainly. The plot was written for a big comedy name who can do pathos too. Rik Mayall isn’t here anymore, so Ade Edmondson is the natural choice.
Will Return to Paradise get a Christmas special too?
Not this year, but season 2 is confirmed, so 2026 probably.
Don Gilet staying as lead for season 15?
Yes. Already filmed. He’s signed for at least two full series.
Any chance of a Humphrey/Mervin crossover?
Fans begging for it. If the numbers are good this Christmas, BBC will make it happen.
Conclusion
Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise are giving us two genuinely exciting Christmas specials in 2025 – strong casts, proper mysteries, actual emotional stakes, and enough absurdity to make you laugh out loud. Saint Marie gets the impossible crime with a Swindon twist, Devon gets the snowman costume catastrophe. Both shows are at the top of their game right now. Mark the calendar, stock up on mince pies, tell your group chat. These are going to be the ones we’re all watching together. Drop your theories below – who do you think the familiar face is?
