Return to Paradise series 3 first look pictures deliver another slice of Down Under as the new series comes to the BBC

First-look pictures and artwork from the eagerly anticipated third series of Return to Paradise, Australia’s much-loved spin-off of the global hit Death in Paradise, have arrived.

Coming to BBC iPlayer and BBC One from Friday 6 November, the 6x60 series sees the return of Dolphin Cove’s favourite outcast and wedding wrecker, Detective Sergeant Mackenzie Clarke (Anna Samson).

Following the shocking departure of pathologist Glenn Strong (Tai Hara), Mack throws herself into her workload alongside the ever-faithful detective Senior Constable, Colin Cartwright (Lloyd Griffith). Mack and Colin find themselves untangling some of Dolphin Cove’s most impossible murders: an artist stabbed in full view of an audience; a wildlife worker killed in a locked cage and a famous film director shot at her own screening. But the biggest and most perplexing mystery of all will be Mack’s own heart.

New arrivals to the cove include Mack’s force-of-nature mother Jillian (Kerry Armstrong), alongside charismatic new pathologist Leo (Jacob Collins) whose raffish charm Mack can’t seem to deny. Reprising their roles in the hit series are Catherine McClements (Senior Sergeant Philomena Strong), Celia Ireland (Reggie Rocco) and Aaron L. McGrath (Constable Felix Wilkinson).

The new images reveal Mack temporarily out of her waistcoat and into the Dolphin Cove uniform alongside Senior Sergeant Philomena Strong, while Colin and Mack prepare to analyse their latest crime scene. Mack’s mother Jillian has arrived in Dolphin Cove much to Mack’s dismay, and new pathologist Leo Drake bags up a potential piece of compelling evidence. Glenn’s change in career path lands him in a spot of hot water, and Reggie and Felix are on the beat trying to find the key clue to break yet another fiendish case.

Each episode will feature a host of popular Aussie screen guest stars, including Mark Lee (A Place to Call Home, La Brea), Ngali Shaw (Ladies in Black, The Twelve), Anthony Hayes (The Slap, Total Control), Zöe Ventura (Packed to the Rafters, Time Bandits), Matt Day (Rake, The Unusual Suspects), Robert Mammone (The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions), Bruce Spence (Mad Max 2, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) and more.

Return to Paradise is produced by BBC Studios Australia Productions in close partnership with Red Planet Pictures, a Fremantle company, for the ABC, and in association with the BBC. BBC Studios, who handle global sales, has now licensed Return to Paradise to over 93 territories across the globe.

The series is co-created and executive-produced by Peter Mattessi, James Hall and Robert Thorogood. The series is written by Peter Mattessi, Alexandra Cullen, Alexandra Collier, Marisa Nathar and Sam Meikle, and is directed by Tenika Smith and Helena Brooks. Diane Haddon is producer. Executive producers for BBC Studios Productions Australia are Sophia Zachariou and Kylie Washington, for Red Planet Pictures are Belinda Campbell, Tim Key and Alexandra Carruthers and for ABC are Brett Sleigh and Rachel Okine.

The third series of Return to Paradise will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK.

• Watch Return to Paradise on BBC iPlayer and add to your Watchlist

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