Death In Paradise star Ralf Little is already preparing for series 10
Ralf Little may have only just joined the cast of Death In Paradise recently, but he's already started preparing for future series.
The Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps star made his debut as Detective Neville Parker on the BBC crime drama earlier this month, after Ardal O'Hanlon's DI Jack Mooney solved his last case on the Caribbean island of Saint Marie.
His arrival went down well with fans, but he's keen to make his character even more impressive by learning the local lingo.
Related: Death in Paradise worries viewers after new lead detective puts Harry the lizard in danger
"I've got roughly four months," Little told Metro UK when asked how much longer he has until production on series 10 kicks off. "I want to get my French in order, obviously [Neville] speaks English but it would be nice to speak French on the island. So I have to work on my French."
His language skills aren't the only thing he wants to brush up on before they start shooting new episodes either. Little says he wants to work on his physique too – even though he's well aware that Neville is "probably allergic to everything in the sea" so won't be sauntering out of it à la Daniel Craig in Casino Royale anytime soon.
Instead, he's planning ahead in case they give him a much more Neville-like scene: "There may be a scene that they write where it's like, 'Oh Neville's having a shower', and then he sees Harry and he runs out of the shower."
Related: Ralf Little is "perfectly suited" to Death in Paradise role
"What I want to happen on the day of shooting, when they go, 'Okay, can you…?' I'll just take my T-shirt off and they'll go, 'Wait a second. Why are you ripped?'
"Neville is not meant to be ripped but I'm going to give them no choice," he laughed. "I've never bothered to be motivated before so I'm going to be like, 'Right, just in case'."
Death in Paradise continues next Thursday (February 27) at 9pm on BBC One.
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