\'Death in Paradise\' won\'t make a joke about Ralf Little\'s previous role.
The 39-year-old actor will join the cast of the BBC series as Detective Neville Parker on Thursday\'s episode (06.02.2020) - following his one-episode guest appearance in the second series as Will Teague - but bosses won\'t be referencing his past cameo.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com, Ralf explained: "We are absolutely not referencing it. There were some discussions about whether we should do a kind of cheeky little reference, or a nod or a wink or a clever little joke in the show.
"Then we thought, you know what, just leave it, people are going to know. And it\'s fine, and we can just accept that as part of the show\'s history and move on.
"In TV world it\'s not that unusual to be honest... I was four different characters in \'Heartbeat\'. Peter Capaldi was in an episode of \'Doctor Who\' before he was Doctor Who!"
The \'Two Pints of Larger and a Packet of Crisps\' star - who has joined as a lead following Ardal O\'Hanlon\'s departure - admitted he almost didn\'t want to return to the crime drama because of his history on the show.
Recalling his conversation with his agent, he added: "I said, \'Don\'t be ridiculous, I\'ve already done an episode I can\'t be a guest again.\'
"I can\'t just go in and be a murderer or a red herring or something like that. Then my agent said, \'No, no they mean for a new detective.\' I said, \'What?\' "
Ralf\'s new role comes after Ardal stepped down as Jack Mooney because he wanted to explore other opportunities and spend time with his family.
However, the incoming star is determined to stay put for as long as possible as filming in the Carribbean benefits his relationship with his girlfriend Lindsey Ferrentino.
He said: "I\'m still not over the stage of being delighted to be in it, and I\'ve only done half a series so I feel like I\'m just getting going.
"And there\'re are certain factors of my life that should been taken into account. I think for all three previous guys, the fact of having kids and a family back here has been something to consider, and quite difficult...
"I don\'t have any responsibilities like that, and plus my other half is American and lives and works in America, so I\'m very used to crossing the Atlantic - in fact when I was in the Caribbean I was closer to her than I normally am anyway."
