Ben Miller was a huge hit during his time on Death in Paradise as DI Richard Poole, the reluctant detective charged with solving murders on the island of St Marie. The star quit back in 2013 due to family reasons, but would he ever return? Find out here...
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Ben has previously spoken very warmly about the show, and admitted that he would love to come back for a cameo appearance - despite his character being dead! Speaking to Digital Spy back in 2016, he said: "Yeah, of course I would [like to return]. It would be great fun! I love the character, he's fantastic fun to do. But there's no talk of that whatsoever, to be honest with you. It was pretty final, I thought!"
Ben left the show in 2013
Should Ben make a cameo appearance, we would have thought it would be in the form of a flashback, as poor DI Richard Poole was murdered in the season three premiere while attending a school reunion, prompting DI Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall) to take over while investigating his death.
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Chatting about why he had to quit in 2013, he told Radio Times: "It was the job of a lifetime, but logistically I just didn't feel I could continue. I arrived out here for the first series and within a few weeks my wife Jessica discovered she was pregnant. That threw everything because it meant she couldn’t come and visit me for the six months I was out here.
Ben's character Richard was killed off in season three
"During the second series, my son Sonny was starting school – your first year of school is so important – and I did think about him coming over here but I’m divorced from his mum, and it wasn’t very practical. Then when I came back, I picked up my baby son Harrison and he started crying because he didn’t know who I was. My personal circumstances just made it too complicated, but I will miss it like a lung. I love it here."
He also admitted that he wasn't the biggest fan of his death scene, saying: "On balance, I think it was the right decision. It was a difficult thing to go through, it was a hard thing to see a character you love killed. And in a particularly brutal fashion!"