Who was Denis Guyenon in Death in Paradise? The story behind the on-screen tribute
Viewers who stayed through the final scenes of the Death in Paradise series 14 finale on 28 March 2025 saw a dedication card appear on screen, written in French: "En la mémoire de notre ami Denis Guyenon 24/06/1965 – 06/07/2024" — "in memory of our friend".
The name doesn't belong to a character or an actor. Here's who Denis Guyenon was, and why the show marked his death this way.
Who he was
Denis Guyenon was the show's stills photographer — a French crew member who lived on Guadeloupe, the Caribbean island where Death in Paradise has filmed since 2011. He joined the production in 2017, at the start of series 6, just as Kris Marshall was leaving the role of DI Humphrey Goodman, and stayed for seven series and around 60 episodes. He died on 6 July 2024, aged 59 — a couple of weeks after his birthday. The cause of his death has not been made public.
Why his job mattered more than the credit suggests
A stills photographer shoots everything the audience sees before an episode airs. For Death in Paradise, a show sold to more than 230 countries, that covered a lot of ground:
- The cast portraits — the official images issued at the start of every series.
- The press pack — photographs sent to newspapers and TV desks worldwide.
- The promotional stills — the pictures broadcasters use to sell each episode.
Executive producer Tim Key put it plainly in the production's tribute, saying that "if you saw a photograph of the show, then Denis had taken it".
What his colleagues said
The tributes went well beyond the standard production statement. Key described him as a much loved and key part of the Death in Paradise family, and said the set feels different without him. Picture publicist Alex Gill, who worked alongside Guyenon for 13 years, called him a "friend and partner in crime" and credited him as integral to the show's success.
His CV wasn't limited to the BBC either — in 2020 he was credited as stills photographer on an episode of Capitaine Marleau, one of France's biggest primetime crime dramas.
Who has taken over?
Philippe Virapin, another Guadeloupe-based photographer, has stepped into the role, keeping the job local — the production has always employed a large number of Guadeloupeans alongside the visiting British cast.
For the record: the tribute ran at the end of episode 8 of series 14, the same finale that closed out the season's main storyline.
Every publicity photo you saw of the show between 2017 and 2024 was, in all likelihood, his.