Beyond Paradise Christmas special: Big name guest cast members announced

Johnny Vegas, Paul Chowdhry and Martin Trenaman are among the guest stars heading to Shipton Abbott for this year’s Beyond Paradise Christmas special, as the BBC promises another festive mystery packed with unexpected twists, Christmas chaos and plenty of seasonal cheer.

They will be joined by Syreeta Kumar and Sam Hunter in a special episode that sees a Christmas celebration take a rather sinister turn when a man dressed as Santa Claus is found lying on the ground after apparently falling from a rooftop.

The festive episode will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer from Friday 27 November, ahead of its broadcast on BBC One over the Christmas period.

Returning to the picturesque Devon town are 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.

But while the familiar faces are looking forward to celebrating another Christmas in Shipton Abbott, Humphrey and his colleagues soon find themselves dealing with a case that could put Santa firmly on the naughty list.

The trouble begins when a little girl spots Santa Claus on the roof of a building, seemingly setting the scene for the most magical Christmas imaginable. However, the excitement quickly turns to alarm when residents of the Whitfield Estate wake to discover a man dressed as Santa has fallen from the roof.

Even more puzzlingly, a series of burglaries has taken place, with video footage and eyewitness accounts seemingly pointing the finger at the big man himself.

As Humphrey begins investigating the incidents, he discovers a collection of conflicting details surrounding the break-ins. Yet the evidence continues to suggest that this particular Santa may be considerably more naughty than nice.

With the man in red waking up in hospital, Humphrey is under pressure to establish exactly what happened and uncover the truth before Christmas arrives.

Meanwhile, Martha has a mystery of her own to solve. After receiving a series of unexplained phone calls and becoming convinced that someone is following her, she decides to confront a mysterious stranger. But when she discovers who is behind the unwanted attention, and why they have come to Shipton Abbott, Martha is faced with a difficult conversation.

Elsewhere, Esther decides to put Archie to the test, declaring that a couple’s first Christmas together can make or break their relationship. With the pressure mounting to find the perfect present, Archie will need to pull out all the stops if he wants to impress her.

And there’s festive friction for Kelby, who becomes caught in the middle of a bitter dispute between two neighbours. Both are determined to outdo the other with increasingly extravagant Christmas light displays, with each accusing the other of sabotage. It seems that even the Christmas spirit has its limits in Shipton Abbott!

The 2026 Christmas special is a co-commission between the BBC and BritBox and is produced by Red Planet Pictures, a Fremantle company.

Tim Key and Tony Jordan are executive producers for Red Planet Pictures, with Robert Schildhouse and Stephen Nye executive producing for BritBox. Lindsay Hughes serves as producer, while the BBC commissioning editors are Danielle Scott-Haughton and Nawfal Faizullah. BBC Studios is handling global sales.

For anyone wanting to catch up before the festive mystery arrives, all previous series of Beyond Paradise are available on BBC iPlayer in the UK, with the show also available on BritBox in North America and Nordic markets.

With a suspicious Santa, a series of baffling burglaries, relationship tests and a neighbourhood Christmas lights rivalry, Shipton Abbott looks set for another wonderfully eventful festive season.

The Beyond Paradise Christmas special will be available on BBC iPlayer from Friday 27 November 2026, with the episode also airing on BBC One over Christmas.

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