British Network Television & Radio
Do you recall that time Selwyn Patterson’s favourite spa was the scene of a murder investigation?
‘Death in Paradise’: S2.E3. “Death in the Clinic”…
David O’Neill’s “Death in the Clinic”, featuring the death of plastic surgery clinic guest Valerie Dupree leaves Detective Inspector Richard Poole and the team baffled, boggled, and more than a little bewildered. Obviously, whilst we’re nowhere near Sesame Street, the letter of the day is curiously “B”…
Further, when Commissioner Selwyn Patterson shows up wearing a clinic provided bathrobe … noting certain unacceptable facial expressions, one can add a certain degree of bemusement to that ever increasing list of “B” words.
O’Neill’s “Death in the Clinic”, further to the series regular cast members, guest stars Julie Riley, Cherie Lunghi, Nathaniel Martello-White, James Fleet, Shaun Parkes, and Emma Pierson.
Riley, Lunghi, Martello-White, Fleet, Parkes, and Pierson, for this season season offering, respectively portray Valerie Dupree, Jayne Smythe, Carlton Banks, plastic surgeon Dr. Jeremy Tipping, Paul Vincent, and facility psychologist and manager Dr. Anna Jones.
The guest star of the week, unquestionably, is James Fleet. Fleet, a constant professional amongst professionals, produces a sterling performance. The characterisation, with hardly noticeable hints scattered throughout the episode that there is an underlying secret being kept hidden, is brilliantly executed.
Poole picks up on it fairly quickly. Interestingly, noting other things unfolding around him, the detective inspector bushes such thoughts aside because something else is going on and he can’t quite nail it down in his usual manner. A question, nonetheless, remains. Who in their right minds would allow a plastic surgeon with failing eyesight to operate on their guests?
Poole and Detective Inspector Camille Bordey, possibly unable to get the image of Patterson wearing a bathrobe out of their heads, must solve the murder. Dupree had been discovered in a pool at Saint Marie’s Jacaranda cosmetic clinic.
The police commissioner, along with the clinic’s general manager, initially assume Dupree’s death is a result of suicide. Dr. Anna Jones, the manager and psychologist, notably has other issues on her mind as she addresses Dupree’s death with police. The clinic, behind the scenes, is financially struggling and it’s only getting worse as time progresses.
Dupree’s husband, a possible person of interest in Poole’s inquires, reportedly left his wife for a younger woman. It was this that had prompted Dupree to undergo plastic surgery.
Patterson, mainly because he wants to get back to his scheduled appointment with as little fuss as possible, wants Poole and Bordey to quickly resolve the case. He seemingly feels tourism on the island, if it were known a murder had occurred at one of Saint Marie’s premiere destinations, could be greatly affected.
Poole, not really interested in tourism as much as the police commissioner, does his best to resolve the case with the minimal of disruption. The entire time, pondering the case from a perspective only Poole would find intellectually stimulating, the detective inspector finds himself repeatedly coming back to the same question. Why would Dupree prepare for herself a very expensive cup of tea and then just leave it virtually untouched?
No one else, certainly not Bordey, Officer Dwayne Myers, Officer Fidel Best, nor Patterson, see the significance of a cup of tea. Poole tries to explain his line of thinking but, as is usually the case, blank faces suggest an inability to grasp the deeper meaning.
Our attention is soon drawn towards another guest of the facility. Jayne Smythe, seemingly attending the Jacaranda cosmetic clinic for similar reasons everyone else is there, suggests Dupree could have been seeing another patient. Flings between patients, according to clinic policies, were not permissible.
The guest Smythe references is Paul Vincent. Vincent and Dupree, before her untimely death, had been observed in what one could only assume a lover’s quarrel. Curiouser and curiouser, with nothing ever escaping Poole’s attention for very long, a question of language inspires Poole to take his investigation in an entirely different direction.
Music Used in David O’Neill’s “Death in the Clinic”…
- I’m Free performed by Jimmy Cliff
- Street Corner performed by The Skatalites
- Gaia performed by The Bees
- Smiling performed by Don Drummond and The Skatalites
- Penny Reel-o performed by Eric “Monty” Morris