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Anna Samson takes the lead in a Death In Paradise spin-off set in Australia

'Roles like this are so rare'
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The โ€œcosy crimeโ€ genre is nothing new, but itโ€™s showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, hit UK series Death In Paradise has added an Aussie spin-off to the โ€œParaverseโ€ โ€“ and itโ€™s a project that confessed murder mystery โ€œloserโ€ Anna Samson is thrilled to be a part of.

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โ€œI grew up on Agatha Christie โ€“ reading Agatha Christie and watching Agatha Christie,โ€ Anna, 34, who moved to Australia from England in her early teens, tells TV WEEK. โ€œAnd also watching procedurals and murder mysteries on the BBC.โ€

Anna Samson as DI Mackenzie Clarke in Return To Paradise.
Anna Samson stars as DI Mackenzie Clarke in Return To Paradise. (Credit: ABC John Platt)

Being cast as the lead detective in Return To Paradise is a dream for Anna, who gained plenty of fans playing personal trainer Mia Anderson in Home And Away from 2021 to 2022 โ€“ a job she describes as โ€œchalk and cheeseโ€ compared to her new gig.

โ€œItโ€™s a very different character,โ€ she explains. โ€œIโ€™m so excited about this show. [Iโ€™m] the first female [lead] in the franchise. It just feels like the Paraverse is really expanding.โ€

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Anna leads the Aussie series as Detective Inspector Mackenzie Clarke, a prickly expat cop who returns to her fictional coastal home town of Dolphin Cove after working in Londonโ€™s Metropolitan Police for the past six years.

โ€œI love Mackenzie and think sheโ€™s actually teaching me quite a lot,โ€ she says of her on-screen alter ego. โ€œSheโ€™s a character who doesnโ€™t particularly worry if people like her. Sheโ€™ll leave
a conversation if she finds it boring. Sheโ€™d leave a party if she found it boring and wouldnโ€™t say goodbye to anyone.

โ€œI think having that โ€˜upfrontnessโ€™ is very liberating for a woman.โ€

Return To Paradise's Det SC Colin Cartwright (Lloyd Griffith), Zayne Wyatt (Dylan Hare) and DI Mackenzie Clarke (Anna Samson).
Det SC Colin Cartwright (Lloyd Griffith), Zayne Wyatt (Dylan Hare) and DI Mackenzie Clarke (Anna Samson) in Return To Paradise. (Credit: ABC John Platt)
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Anna admits she does find it hard to switch off after being in character all day.

โ€œI take her home with me a bit,โ€ she says. โ€œI have to do so much preparation, so the job doesnโ€™t end at the end of the shoot day. Itโ€™s an all-consuming job, but itโ€™s brilliant to have a job like this. Itโ€™s rare that these types of roles come along.โ€

The ensemble cast is bolstered by Catherine McClements as Mackenzieโ€™s boss (and former mother-in-law-to-be); Tai Hara as her rather dreamy ex-fiancรฉ Glenn; and Celia Ireland as nosy police volunteer Reggie Rocco.

Anna says her co-stars are a huge part of why sheโ€™s loving the new role so much.

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DI Mackenzie Clarke (Anna Samson) in Return To Paradise.
DI Mackenzie Clarke (Anna Samson) is back in her home town to solve crimes. (Credit: ABC John Platt)

โ€œOne of the delights of the show is the people Iโ€™m working with,โ€ she says. โ€œThe cast are, in every way, brilliant: brilliant actors, brilliant humans, brilliant ensemble players, brilliant support. Because Iโ€™m in so much of the show, itโ€™s very special to be held by such kind, generous, powerhouses of actors.โ€

While the show is set in a tiny tropical paradise, itโ€™s actually filmed in the NSW city of Wollongong and in parts of Sydney. The cast and crew had to contend with rather wet conditions when it filmed earlier this year, but for a UK native, that was nothing new.

โ€œI love being on location, because itโ€™s a beautiful part of the world,โ€ Anna says. โ€œActually, I donโ€™t mind the rain. Like my character, Iโ€™m a big fan of London โ€“ itโ€™s my favourite city in the world. And you have to like the rain to love London.โ€

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So is a return to the land of her birth on the cards in the future?

โ€œIโ€™d love to be in the UK,โ€ Anna says. โ€œThere are a lot of family and friends there. The theatre scene in London is something that appeals to me greatly. But I have a very beautiful, happy life in Australia as well. Weโ€™ve got aeroplanes โ€“ I could do both!โ€

Return To Paradise airs Sunday, 7.30pm on ABC.

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