Humphrey Goodman

Death in Paradise character

Portrayed by

Kris Marshall

Duration

2014–17

First appearance

14 January 2014

Last appearance

9 February 2017

Classification

Former; regular

Profile

Occupation

Detective Inspector

Father	Martin Goodman
Wife	Sally Goodman (divorced)
Aunts	Mary Goodman

Father	Martin Goodman
Wife	Sally Goodman (divorced)
Aunts	Mary Goodman

Detective Inspector Humphrey Goodman is a character in the crime drama television series Death in Paradise, portrayed by Kris Marshall.

Goodman is assigned to Saint Marie after the murder of D.I. Richard Poole at the start of Series 3. Clues from Poole's investigation helped Goodman reveal the motive and the killer's identity; Goodman commented that Poole had 'solved his own murder.' Goodman stayed on in Saint Marie after his wife Sally announced she would not be joining him on the Caribbean island. He became the chief inspector on the island, and took to Poole's old habit of announcing the murderer in front of all the suspects and his police team. He is very clumsy, often forgetting things or finding himself with nothing to take notes on; he embraces Caribbean life much more than his predecessor. He has a knack at being able to solve murders instantly, looking at the meaning of small details, much like his predecessor. He fell in love with his detective sergeant, Camille Bordey, often coming close to revealing his feelings for her. He tried to stop her leaving when she requested a job in Paris, but conceded. He shared a passionate kiss with her just before she left the island. Her successor, Florence Cassell, also managed to get along with Goodman, often sharing jokes and they dedicate a drink to Camille after their first solved case.

During the fifth season, a running sub-plot involved Goodman attempting to get back into the dating game, but his results were various degrees of failure until he ran into Martha, a woman who once ran a sandwich shop he frequented when he worked in London, in the season finale. In the sixth season, Martha returns to the island for a few weeks, but while she and Goodman enjoy their time together, she eventually returns to London to start her dream job at a new restaurant. When a subsequent case sends Goodman and his team to London to track their suspects, he is inspired to stay with Martha, nominating the recently-widowed DI Jack Mooney- the team's London liaison for their latest case- as his successor in Saint Marie.

Goodman is awkward and accident prone. Michael Hogan argues that "his bumbling and stammering resemble a Hugh Grant impersonation."

...
Wikipedia