Former Death in Paradise lead recalls stint on beloved show: "I always knew whodunnit!"

This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.

So an Englishman, an Irishman and an American go off to meet the Pope. At first it sounds like a joke – especially since I’m being told the story by a comedian. Then it sounds more like a surreal dream – especially when the Englishman turns out to be Stephen Merchant, and the American Whoopi Goldberg.

But no, it’s an honest-to-God account, from stand-up (and actor and writer) Ardal O’Hanlon, of the time he and a conclave of comics were invited to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican in 2024.

“It was totally bizarre,” marvels O’Hanlon. “They invited all these major US comedians [including Goldberg]; a lot of Italian comics; Tommy Tiernan, Patrick Kielty and me from Ireland; then there was only one English guy, Stephen Merchant – I didn’t get to speak to him, but [as he’s 6ft 7in] I obviously did see him across the room. Then the Pope gives this lovely speech about the value of comedy – and he was kind of funny, he got some laughs, but it was in Italian, so I’m not sure what they were all laughing at. Then we got to shake his hand, and I gave him my parents’ rosary beads to bless, so I’m the golden boy at home.”

But wasn’t he worried that His Holiness might have seen the show that made young O’Hanlon’s name? Because while Father Ted (and O’Hanlon’s sweetly fat-headed character, Father Dougal) was a largely affectionate portrait of Irish priesthood, it was fairly unflattering, too, no? “Well, somebody told me once that Cardinal Basil Hume [then Archbishop of Westminster] was a big fan of the show. So I like to think Pope Francis handpicked his favourite comedians to come to the Vatican, but I don’t know. I mean, you do wonder what goes on in the Vatican – is it bingo in the morning and then they watch boxsets in the afternoon?”

The Pontiff might approve more of O’Hanlon’s latest venture, anyway. After two fairly dark previous novels, his new one, A Plot to Die For is a cosy-crime murder mystery with a distinctly warm heart wrapped up in its twisty plot and excellent jokes. (“I don’t love the term ‘cosy’,” he curmudgeons mildly, but will hold his hand up to “fluffy” or “gentle”.) The book’s hero is Finn, a celebrity gardener in the UK who returns to his small Irish home town to care for his elderly mother – not unlike O’Hanlon, it turns out.

“The starting point of this novel was that my mother had a pretty bad accident, and she was in recovery for a long time. So I was spending quite a lot of time with her and getting to know her as a person, which was wonderful. I wanted to write the kind of book she would enjoy, but also wanted to celebrate mother-son relationships – so Finn and his mum form this investigative team.

“The other theme I was interested in was the whole notion of fame. There’s a line in the book where Finn says he doesn’t like being labelled a celebrity – or, as he puts it, ‘libelled a celebrity’. I can identify with that.”

O’Hanlon gets plenty of humour out of both themes. There’s a nice gag about Finn’s bitter TV-gardening rival, ‘Alan Titmouse’ – “and I read that paragraph out when I was a guest on Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh recently. I think he was a little aghast.” Likewise, you can almost hear the writer’s wry smile when he has Finn sit down to watch an episode of Death in Paradise at one point: O’Hanlon, of course, played the lead role in the Caribbean-set crime show from 2017 to 2020.

In fact, in his book’s earliest incarnation, “I thought it would be a brilliant premise, imagining myself back in Guadeloupe being an actor on the show, who off-set was investigating a real murder.” A bit far-fetched, no? “I think I would be a good detective! When I was doing Death in Paradise, I didn’t even have to read the scripts to the end; I always knew whodunnit! Also, for both Finn and me, people do confide in us. I don’t know if it’s my angelic face or that I’m familiar off the TV, but strangers will tell me their innermost secrets.”

Sounds like the 60-year-old is a shoo-in for the role if a mooted screen version comes off then? “I’ve done the audiobook, but this is how stupid I am: I wrote a main character that’s about 15 years younger than me – so I’ve blown it for myself. If the show ever gets made, then by the time it does I think I’ll be ready to play Finn’s elderly father.”

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