Derry Girls actress to star in Christmas special of popular crime drama

Derry Girls actress Siobhan McSweeney and game show presenter Les Dennis will guest star in the second festive special of Death In Paradise.

Dennis will play a so-far-undisclosed role as the Caribbean crime drama’s team investigate the murder of a true crime podcaster on the hunt for a missing child.

The 69-year-old, best known for Family Fortunes, also had a long-running storyline on Coronation Street as petty burglar Michael Rodwell. 

McSweeney, 42, finished the last series of Northern Ireland comedy Derry Girls earlier this year in which she played Sister Michael for three seasons.

Death In Paradise’s feature-length special will also have a storyline where commissioner Selwyn Patterson, played by Don Warrington, has an old case come back to haunt him.

Meanwhile love could be on the horizon for DI Neville Parker, played by Ralf Little.

The episode also features officer Marlon Pryce, played by Tahj Miles, having to spend the night in a haunted house, and Darlene Curtis, played by Ginny Holder, taking a hard look at her life choices.

In the upcoming 12th series, episodes will cover the death of a celebrity astronomer and people digging for the apocalypse on a Saint Marie hillside. 

Other guest stars in the special and series include Peep Show actor and comedian Robert Webb, Jo Martin, who portrayed a version of the time lord called the Fugitive Doctor on Doctor Who, Happy Valley’s Amit Shah, and Jo Hartley from Ricky Gervais' comedy After Life.

Barney Walsh, who has starred opposite his father Bradley Walsh, known for The Chase, in comedy drama The Larkins, also features. 

There will also be appearances by Coronation Street’s John Michie, legal drama The Split’s Fiona Button, Kate And Koji’s Okorie Chukwu, The Outlaws’ Gamba Cole and Downton Abbey kitchen maid actress Cara Theobold.

The popular crime drama’s festive feature-length special is airing later this year on BBC One and iPlayer.

Series 12 will be broadcast shortly after the Christmas special in the new year.

A spin-off show, Beyond Paradise, starring My Family’s Kris Marshall and Not Going Out’s Sally Bretton will also be released in early 2023.