'I watched the new Death In Paradise and it's very different without Ralf Little'

Death in Paradise has been through five Detective Inspectors in its time, with Ralf Little and Kris Marshall being among the most popular.

It's not always easy to be the newcomer in such a well-loved show, especially as the successor of an established actor like Ralf, who'd had several years to win over the hearts of the public. In fact, when Ralf first began, even his own mother was worried that he'd "ruin" the show.

With that in mind, it's no wonder Don's first time nerves were so intense that he reportedly considered walking off set and into a totally different role somewhere else. His character, Mervin Wilson, perfectly mirrored on-screen some of those uncertain emotions he may have been feeling in real life.

For instance, although many of us would jump at the chance to flee chilly Britain and spend the Christmas season in the Caribbean, that's not so for Mervin, whose distaste for the island is instantly obvious. Tiring of the quiet and low-key pace of life, he can't wait to get back to the UK - but his plans are thwarted seconds after he boards his flight to London, and it's back to Saint Marie to solve a murder investigation, grumbling all the way.

Just as some viewers at first struggled to warm to him, his character too was the awkward new kid on the block, making a series of gaffes and inappropriate comments leading to even his own colleagues disliking him. The atmosphere heated up on X as fans called for Catherine (Elizabeth Bourgine) to slap him over his "disrespectful" behaviour.

One chortled: "I'm loving Mervin's blunt comments - his colleagues certainly aren't though!"

After offending almost everyone around him, he then baffles by complaining that the island is too quiet and deserted - on Christmas Day.

It's one thing for his colleagues not to take to him, but then he becomes a key suspect in his own murder investigation, and even after being cleared of wrongdoing, Sergeant Naomi Thomas (Shantol Jackson) isn't convinced.

"Strange, isn't it, that they would suspect you?" she repeatedly asks, leaving the flustered Mervin to dive into a long-winded explanation about a stolen laptop, and who is really behind the theft.

However, this is about something far more serious than a self-declared "ditzy model" trying to disguise the evidence that she was actually miming on a 1980s music video and is not the singing talent she'd once suggested.

Instead, Mervin is hunting down who is responsible for multiple murders of men who all have one thing in common - they were dressed up as Santa Claus at the time.

It's concluded that whoever would do such a thing must truly hate Christmas, and Mervin's hilarious "bah humbug" style comments throughout the show do very little to remove his name from the suspect list.

However, anyone who had him down as a serial killer must have been mistaking him for his earlier persona as Lucas in EastEnders - and, as viewers will see, this new role is unlike anything he's ever done before.

For now, Mervin doesn't quite fit in - but didn't most of the DIs experience an awkward newbie phase when they were still finding their feet - both on-screen and in real life, as they sought to win over the viewing public?

The Christmas special saw Mervin dipping a tentative toe in the sand, but it's not until early 2025 that we'll see him making his fully-fledged debut for series 14.

His presence is already very different from Ralf Little's - and he has all the time in the world to craft a unique character as we enter a new chapter of Death in Paradise.