ABC books another Return to Paradise with Anna Samson

FIRST LOOK: Filming is underway on the third season of Australian crime drama Return to Paradise, with Anna Samson returning in the lead role of DS Mackenzie Clarke.

In this third outing, Mackenzie is back, fresh from having wrecked another of Glenn (Tai Hara)’s weddings and determined never to follow her heart again.

But ignoring her heart won’t be easy. The arrival of her force-of-nature mother Jillian (Kerry Armstrong) puts Mack’s mettle to the ultimate test and there’s something undeniable about the raffish charm of the new pathologist Leo (Jacob Collins). And as for Glenn, who has gone away to ‘find himself’, well that’s a whole other puzzle for Mack to try and solve …

And while Dolphin Cove may still look like paradise, it continues to serve up a steady stream of baffling murder mysteries – from the artist stabbed in full view of the public, to the wildlife worker dead in a locked cassowary cage. Mack will solve it all with her usual brilliance, and the off-beat help of her loyal team.

The returning cast also includes Lloyd Griffith as Colin Cartwright, Catherine McClements as Philomena Strong, Celia Ireland as Reggie Rocco and Aaron McGrath as Felix Wilkinson.

Guest actors in S3 Mark Lee, Tina Bursill, Ngali Shaw, Anthony Hayes, Zöe Ventura (Packed to the Rafters, Time Bandits), Zindzi Okenyo (Troppo, Critical Incident) and Matt Day (Rake, The Unusual Suspects).

The Australian spin-off to murder mystery Death in Paradise, the six-part whodunnit is produced by BBC Studios Australia Productions, in partnership with Red Planet Pictures for the ABC, and in association with the BBC, which airs the series in the UK.

Return to Paradise will air on ABC TV and ABC iview later this year and will be shown on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK. It will be distributed globally by BBC Studios.

tagged in: ABC, Anna Samson, BBC iPlayer, BBC One, BBC Studios Australia Productions, Red Planet Pictures, Return to Paradise