Saint Marie (fictional island)

Saint Marie
Deshaies on Guadeloupe, which is used for the town of Honoré in Death in Paradise.
Death in Paradise location
Created by Robert Thorogood
Genre Television series
Type British Overseas Territory
Population 10,000
Capital Honoré
Currency Eastern Caribbean dollar (XCD)

Saint Marie is a fictional island in the Lesser Antilles which serves as the setting for the BBC crime drama television series Death in Paradise.

Premise

Saint Marie is described in Episode 3.3 as a "pretty island" that is "situated in the Eastern Caribbean Sea" and "one-tenth the size of its north-west neighbour Guadeloupe", which would make Saint Marie about 63 square miles (160 km2) in size. It is described in Episode 4.5 as being 70 miles from Martinique.

The island is a British Overseas Territory, but was handed over to the British from the French only in the 1970s, so that about 30% of its people are French citizens, with the French language still widely spoken.

The back-story appears to be a blend of two real-world islands near to Guadeloupe, with size and location aligning with Marie-Galante (in real-life politically affiliated with Guadeloupe, not independent of it), and history and language aligning with Dominica. Another possible basis is Îlet Sainte Marie "The Îlet Sainte-Marie is an island located on the northeast coast of Martinique, right in front of the small town of Sainte-Marie, known in the North Atlantic region. Very popular with tourists, it is a geological curiosity of nature, as connected to the rest of the island by a tombolo."[1]

They drive on the same side of the road as the UK,[2] but vehicles, including the police Land Rover Defender 110, have number plates the same format as the vehicle registration plates of France.

Features

Saint Marie's population is assumed to be around 10,000.[3]

In the series, Saint Marie has a volcano, rainforest, sugar plantations, a fishing harbour, an airport, a university, a convent, multiple hotels, approximately 100 public beaches, and a Crown Court. It also has its own newspaper, The Saint Marie Times. Honoré, the main town, has a leisure/commercial marina, market, bars, and restaurants as well as the police station. The neighbouring town to Honoré is named as Port Royal. Its main economic ties are to Guadeloupe, the UK, and France, but it uses the East Caribbean Dollar as its unit of currency, as opposed to the Pound or the Euro. The island's main religions are Catholicism and Voodoo, with several religious festivals featuring in the programme, including the Saint Ursula Festival (in reality, a major festival of the Virgin Islands) and some Voodoo festivals.

Locations

The series is filmed on Guadeloupe, and Deshaies doubles for the fictional town of Honoré.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Équipe du Guide du Routard (2013-01-01). Le Guide du Routard - Martinique. Hachette Tourisme. ISBN 9782012453982.
  2. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08cbpkc
  3. ↑ Graff, Vincent (8 January 2013). "Death in Paradise: Ben Miller on investigating the deadliest place on the planet". Radio Times. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "Death in Paradise: Guadeloupe, the real-life St Marie". The Telegraph. 4 February 2016.
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