UPDATE: |Death in Paradise fans have only just spotted major crossover in new Ben Miller series News

Ben Miller has teamed up with Sally Phillips for a brand new BBC series called Austin.

Keen-eyed BBC enthusiasts have made an intriguing connection between Ben Miller’s latest series, Austin, and their beloved Death in Paradise. In the new show, Ben embodies Julian Hartswood, a wealthy British children’s book author who was plunged into scandal after sharing a tweet from a white supremacist.

Complicating matters further, Julian encounters Austin (Michael Theo) at a Canberra book signing, a neurodivergent young man who insists he’s Julian’s son. This claim is confirmed after some digging and turns out to be the result of a past relationship with Ingrid (Sally Phillips), Julian’s current wife and professional partner of 28 years.

Initially, Julian dismisses Austin, wishing him out of his life, yet on his agent’s cynical advice, considers reuniting publicly with his estranged autistic son as a route to salvage his tarnished reputation.

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However, a familiar face caught the attention of Death in Paradise viewers in a crossover seemingly taken straight from the Australian spin-off Return to Paradise.

Tai Hara appears as Luke, the bartender in Austin, and also plays Glenn Strong, Detective Sergeant Mackenzie Clarke’s (Anna Samson) ex-fiance in Return to Paradise.

One fan wrote on a Facebook fan page dedicated to the show: “I’m watching the new Ben Miller show Austin. There is a character called Barman Luke. The character is played by Tai Hara, who also plays Glenn Strong in Paradise. Glenn is Mac’s ex-fiance,” reports Wales Online.

Ben, who played the first detective Richard Poole in Death in Paradise, met a dramatic exit via an ice pick.

Ben’s latest series seems to share some DNA with Death in Paradise, and it isn’t the first instance of such a crossover.

Last year’s Return to Paradise sparked conversations among fans who drew parallels between its leading lady and the early days of Death in Paradise’s Richard Poole.

On social media, one audience member remarked: “I liked it! The lead character seems to be like a female Richard Poole or Neville Parker.”

Echoing this sentiment, another viewer noted: “Yes, you’re right, very Richard Poole-ish.”

While a third added: “Just when I thought DI Richard Poole was not a people-friendly person, up pops DI Mackenzie Clarke.”

When speaking about how he got involved with the new series, Ben shared: “Darren Ashton, the director, is an old friend of mine. We worked on a film in Australia called Razzle Dazzle in 2007 and we’d been looking for something to do ever since.

“A few years ago, he was staying with me in the UK, and he showed me Love on the Spectrum, which I absolutely loved, and I was completely blown away by Michael Theo in it.

“I thought he was extraordinary and such a fascinating person in the show and on screen. After bingeing the entire series, I asked Darren, “Do you think Michael could act? I get the feeling he could,” and Darren agreed. We said, “Do you think we could try and come up with some kind of show where Michael was the central character?” and that was the beginning of it.”

Austin is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.