Hopelessly in Love

Kris Marshall tells TV Times all about the new series’ surprises, including how Humphrey’s finally found himself a girlfriend…

- Emma Bullimore

The fictional Caribbean island of Saint-Marie seems the perfect place for romance. Its stunning scenery, sun-drenched beaches and copious cocktails would make it easy to fall in love – even with its skyrocketing murder rate.

So, it’s hardly a surprise that even romantically-inept Humphrey finally has a girlfriend. When Death in Paradise returns this week, his relationship with old friend Martha (Sally Bretton), with whom he was reunited at the end of the last series, moves to the next level.

‘It might be something cool, but it’s very much the green shoots of a relationship,’ teases Kris Marshall when he meets TV Times for a coffee in rainy London.

‘She comes back to Saint-Marie to visit him. But Humphrey’s awkward and good at making a mess of stuff so there will be many ups and downs. When he gets going he’s actually a bit of a catch, though.’

Indeed, we might be used to seeing Humphrey clumsily bump into furniture but Kris, 43, reckons there’s a secret smooth-talker hidden within. ‘Humphrey’s got a lot of love to give and he’s fun in a relationship, you’ll get to see that.