FIRST LOOK Beyond Paradise Christmas special 2026
Guest stars include Johnny Vegas, Paul Chowdhry, Martin Trenaman, Syreeta Kumar and Sam Hunter!
BBC One has released a first look at this year's Beyond Paradise Christmas special, which will be available on BBC iPlayer from Friday 27th November and on BBC One over the festive season.
Returning to untangle both their Christmas decorations and a puzzling festive case will be Kris Marshall as DI Humphrey Goodman, Sally Bretton as Martha Lloyd, Zahra Ahmadi as DS Esther Williams, Dylan Llewellyn as PC Kelby Hartford, Barbara Flynn as Anne Lloyd, Felicity Montagu as Margo Martins) and Jamie Bamber as Archie Hughes.
This Christmas, a little girl’s festive season is set to be the best-ever when she looks out the window and spots Santa Claus on the roof. But it soon becomes a nightmare before Christmas for the residents of the Whitfield Estate, who wake to discover a man dressed as Santa has plummeted from the roof, and that a spate of robberies has taken place, with all the video and eyewitness evidence implicating the big man himself!
As Humphrey investigates the wildly different details of each burglary, all the evidence points to a Santa who is decidedly more naughty than nice. But when the man in red wakes up in hospital, can Humphrey get the answers he needs before Christmas arrives?
Meanwhile, finding herself at the end of several unrecognised phone calls and sensing she’s being followed, Martha confronts a mysterious stranger. Discovering the culprit’s true identity and reason for coming to Shipton Abbott, Martha faces a difficult conversation.
Elsewhere, Esther puts Archie to the test when she insists that a couple’s first Christmas together can make or break them, leaving Archie under pressure to pull out all the stops for his present.
And Kelby finds himself caught between two warring neighbours, each accusing the other of sabotage in their fierce competition to have the most extravagant Christmas lights display.
This year’s guest stars docking in Shipton Abbott include Johnny Vegas, Paul Chowdhry, Martin Trenaman, Syreeta Kumar and Sam Hunter.
Made by Red Planet Pictures, a Fremantle company, the Beyond Paradise Christmas special is produced by Lindsay Hughes.
Beyond Paradise returns Friday 27th November on BBC iPlayer and will air over Christmas on BBC One
