Return to Paradise season 3: Mack returns to ABC on 14 November – Detective Sergeant Mackenzie Clarke is heading back to Dolphin Cove for six new mysteries when Return to Paradise premieres on Saturday, 14 November at 7.30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview. Anna Samson returns as Mack, with a first-look season-three trailer now available.
The new season follows a particularly messy end to Mack’s last case: she derailed another of Glenn Strong’s weddings. That makes this more than a fresh batch of whodunits. With Glenn now away and his replacement at the pathology lab taking an interest in Mack, the series is continuing the personal story that ran through its second season. For Australian viewers, the six one-hour episodes again have a free-to-air and free-streaming home.
Three new cases for Mackenzie Clarke
Mack is again on the wrong side of Dolphin Cove’s opinion after the wedding incident. As she throws herself into police work, she and Senior Constable Colin Cartwright (Lloyd Griffith) face an artist stabbed in full view of an audience, a wildlife worker killed inside a locked cage, and a famous film director shot at her own screening. Each case begins with a seemingly impossible circumstance for the pair to unravel.
Pathologist Glenn Strong (Tai Hara) has departed, leaving Mack to work with new pathologist Leo (Jacob Collins). Leo’s interest in her adds another complication outside the station. Kerry Armstrong also joins the main story as Mack’s formidable mother, Jillian. Together, the new arrivals test Mack’s resolve to concentrate on cases rather than her own relationships.
The season’s guest cast includes Anthony Hayes, Tina Bursill, Mark Lee, Zoe Ventoura, Aaron Pedersen, Rob Carlton, Matt Day, Bruce Spence, Sonia Todd, Diana Glenn and Zindzi Okenyo. The ABC has not identified which of their characters are victims, suspects or killers, leaving the cases to unfold on screen.
Australian production behind the six episodes
Return to Paradise is the Australian spin-off of the Death in Paradise franchise. ABC commissioned season three in association with the BBC and BBC Studios. BBC Studios Australia Productions and Red Planet Pictures, a Fremantle company, produced the series, with support from the NSW Government and Screen NSW’s Made in NSW Fund. Screen NSW also supported post-production, digital and visual effects. BBC Studios handles global sales.
James Hall, Peter Mattessi and Robert Thorogood created the series. Mattessi, an executive producer, wrote alongside Alexandra Cullen, Alexandra Collier, Sam Meikle and Marisa Nathar. Stuart Page was script producer; Tenika Smith and Helena Brooks directed; and Diane Haddon produced. Executive producers are Sophia Zachariou and Kylie Washington for BBC Studios Australia Productions; Belinda Campbell, Tim Key, Alexandra Carruthers and Robert Thorogood for Red Planet Pictures; and Brett Sleigh and Rachel Okine for ABC.
Watch the Return to Paradise season-three trailer
Return to Paradise season three premieres Saturday, 14 November at 7.30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview. For more TV Central coverage, read our earlier report on the season-three production. Viewers can find the series on the official ABC iview page.
