Childhood Boredom Fueled ‘Death in Paradise’ Creator’s Path

For much of Robert Thorogood’s life, the hours he spent skipping geography classes and reading Agatha Christie while bored at his great aunt’s farm seemed like a misspent youth. However, these activities proved valuable when, at 37, a television series he had written first aired on primetime BBC One. Thorogood’s writing credits had been almost non-existent until *Death in Paradise* premiered on screen. The Colchester-born novelist recently spoke with BBC Upload presenter Rob Jelly ahead of his new spin-off series, *Return to Paradise*. “I can trace my love and obsession for murder mysteries back to skiving off my Geography lessons and bored at my great aunt’s,” stated Thorogood, who is now 52 years old. He continued, “It was Agatha Christie in book form that I first fell in love with and there was an ambition I had that I would write a murder mystery and it would be a novel.” Reflecting on that period, he noted, “I thought [at the time] I was just enjoying myself, but it turns out that – that obsessive love – I would be able to monetise later on.” Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton were also among his favorite authors. He recalled being caught reading *Fantastic Mr Fox* in geography class by his “furious” teacher. “Mr Fox blew my tiny mind,” Thorogood said. Thorogood studied at the University of Cambridge, but his twenties were largely characterized by dreading the question, “how is writing going?”. He worked at theatre companies and held secretarial jobs, yet he was always writing. He remarked, “My 20s were mostly a complete waste of time as my father-in-law will tell you.” He further explained: “But that’s when I grew up because who wants to hear from a white 18-year-old man. I had nothing to offer the world. I had no point of view that was of any interest.” He added, “It was only until my 30s that I kind of started to have anything to say.” Thorogood, now a *Sunday Times* bestseller, is married to radio broadcaster Katie Breathwick. The couple has two children. The father-of-two described his life going from “0 to 100 without any of the intermediate steps” when *Death in Paradise* first aired. The “fish-out-of-water” comedy drama has run for 13 series and has featured decorated TV actors, including Ben Miller as Det Insp Richard Poole, Kris Marshall as Det Humphrey Goodman, and Ralph Little as Det Insp Neville Parker. It is set on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, which is reinvented as the fictional British overseas territory of Saint Marie. A spin-off show, *Beyond Paradise*, followed, co-written by Thorogood and Tony Jordan. *Return to Paradise* is scheduled to hit TV screens on 22 November, a collaboration between the BBC, Red Planet Pictures, and BBC Studios Australia Productions. Thorogood is continuing to write a book set in his adopted hometown in Buckinghamshire, which is the fifth instalment of *The Marlow Murder Club* series. His earlier books in the series have already been dramatised on TV. He still romanticizes his days before achieving writing fame, despite acknowledging that he was “very very poor.” He described it as “the freedom of not being paid or having signed a contract and just being able to express yourself and take risks and to be brave, because you don’t know enough to be fearful.” He added, “You don’t have to be published, you don’t have to have anything on the TV or the radio. You do it and you are it.” Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram, and X. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.