Death in Paradise legend Ben Miller has cop role… and he's even called Richard!

Ben Miller as Detective Superintendent Richard Groves in Suspect season 2
(Image credit: Channel 4)

Death in Paradise star Ben Miller is to play a detective in the second series of Channel 4 drama Suspect.

Ben is known to millions of Death in Paradise fans as DI Richard Poole and in a nice twist, his character in Suspect is also called Richard! Perhaps he might get posted to Saint Marie?!

A first picture of Ben (main image) in the second series, sees the star sporting specs as he plays Detective Superintendent Richard Groves, a part he also played in the show's first series. Ben joins an all-star cast that includes Anne-Marie Duff, Dominic Cooper, Eddie Marsan, Vinette Robinson, Celine Buckens, Nicholas Pinnock and Gina McKee.

DI Richard Poole talks with Lily Thomson in Death in Paradise season 1 episode 1

Ben in his Death in Paradise days (Image credit: BBC)

The second series picks up where the first left off with Dr Susannah Newman on a quest to discover the truth about her daughter's tragic death. But things take a mysterious turn when Jon (Dominic Cooper) makes a strange confession under hypnosis. Susannah is then thrown into a fresh mission to save a life, something she couldn't do for her own daughter. 

It will be interesting to see how Ben's detective character fits into the plot. We do have a shot (below) of Detective Superintendent Richard Groves and Dr Susannah Newman interacting.

Dr Susannah Newman chats to Detective Superintendent Richard Groves in Suspect season 2

Dr Susannah Newman chats to Detective Superintendent Richard Groves in Suspect (Image credit: Channel 4)

The eight-part series promises to be the thriller of the summer, while outside of the UK it's coming to BritBox later this year. Meanwhile, Ben has been making an Australian series called Austin, which is partly being made by ITV Studios, which suggests it might end up on ITV. Ben stars alongside Sally Phillips in the eight-part comedy, playing a children's author.  

Ben is of course an actual children's author. He's published a string of books including "How I Became A Dog Called Midnight", "The Boy Who Made the World Disappear" and "Diary of a Big Bad Wolf".

Ben played DI Richard Poole between 2011 and 2014 in Death in Paradise, also making a brief appearance in 2021. The second series of Suspect will be directed by Carolina Giammetta (Before We Die, Hollington Drive) and has been written by Joy Wilkinson (Eps 1-5) and David Allison (Eps 6-8).

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David Hollingsworth
Editor

David is the What To Watch Editor and has over 20 years of experience in television journalism. He is currently writing about the latest television and film news for What To Watch.

Before working for What To Watch, David spent many years working for TV Times magazine, interviewing some of television's most famous stars including Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland, singer Lionel Richie and wildlife legend Sir David Attenborough. 

David started out as a writer for TV Times before becoming the title's deputy features editor and then features editor. During his time on TV Times, David also helped run the annual TV Times Awards. David is a huge Death in Paradise fan, although he's still failed to solve a case before the show's detective! He also loves James Bond and controversially thinks that Timothy Dalton was an excellent 007.

Other than watching and writing about telly, David loves playing cricket, going to the cinema, trying to improve his tennis and chasing about after his kids!