A new TV show for Channel 5 and Paramount+ is set on a cruise ship and shot in Malta. In HMS Murder, Cabaret singer, Jack Grayling, who was previously a detective, discovers sinister elements onboard a cruise ship when a passenger is found murdered.
In Cruise Ship Crime Investigators book series guest speaker on a cruise ship, Kieron Philips is thrust back into his investigator past. He was previously in the British special forces.
In HMS Murder the ambitious First Officer Kate Woods has her desire to be captain thrown into jeopardy by this turn of events.
In the Cruise Ship Crime Investigators series started in 2015, book 2 - Cruise Ship Serial Killer, the ambitious head of security Officer Ruby Jenkins discovers a murder on the long Pacific Ocean crossing and sees this as an opportunity for a career bump. Then there is another murder, then another.
In HMS Murder a wave of murder mysteries follows, and each is set against the backdrop of a different stunning coastal destination. Scenes were shot in 20 different locations in Malta and used it to represent ports in other countries such as Casablanca. Malta is known as the Hollywood of the Mediterranean with film studios and the Popeye Village. See our Malta pages
In CSCI, all the books are based on ships and in cruise ports. Cruise Ship Heist starts in Port Limon, Costa Rica then takes Kieron Philips, the guest speaker through the Panama Canal. On discovering millions of drug money onboard he is thrust back into his detective role to figure out how he is being used. The ship then goes to Cartagena in South America, across to Bequia and the story ends drastically in Madeira. The series is serialised on YouTube and you can start listening here.
https://youtu.be/-90fO5qyaCg
The UK based indie TV company Clapperboard has made this in association with Endeavour Content. It is being billed as “Murder She Wrote meets Below Deck.”
The team is Paul Testar, Commissioning Executive, Drama for Channel 5 and Paramount+. Executive producers for Clapperboard are Mike Benson and lead writer Paul Matthew Thompson. Sandra MacIver is producing, and Gordon Anderson is directing.
Channel 5 has shown a number of cruise shows, not least the popular Cruising with Jane McDonald. Strange they then use the term HMS when cruise ships are all MS and the remaining single liner at see the RMS Queen Mary II is the only RMS. They have underestimated the proud knowledge of ship lovers and cruisers with the Carry On term.
Paul Testar said: “I’m really happy to work once more with the talented team at Clapperboard Studios to bring HMS Murder to screens. With a variety of gloriously sunny locations added to the classic murder mystery genre, and with a splash of music on top, Channel 5 viewers are in for a treat.”
Clapperboard Managing Director Mike Benson added: “We’ve seen a lot of murder mystery shows in recent years – but not many featuring murder, mystery and a cruise ship cabaret singer solving crimes. HMS Murder is probably our most ambitious series to date, filmed across 8 different countries as well as a 6000 cabin luxury cruise liner sailing the med.”
Prentis Fraser, EVP of Television Distribution at Endeavor Content said: “As soon as we heard this pitch we were completely on board – this series is a genius combination of elements, a Murder She Wrote meets Below Deck with the p
erfect mix of glamour, charm and intrigue taking place in an abundance of gorgeous, glossy locations. With the accessibility of a procedural and a playlist of iconic tracks, HMS Murder is ideally designed to be a fan favourite returnable series.”
See the CSCI Cruise Ship Crime Investigators page here on Amazon.
Cruise Crime series Amazon page
and here on this website. We also list the other cruise authors.
The interior is not in our film, but the exterior of the Church of Our Lady Bruges is seen from the canal boat. Said to have the most striking architectural feature in Bruges, it also has the marble sculpture of Madonna and child by Michelangelo – the most prestigious piece of art in town. There are also paintings by Sir Anthony van Dyck and altarpiece triptychs. We will get to this next time. It goes to show how much there is to see in this small town. If you have time, Saint John’s Hospital (Hospitalmuseum) which was built in 1188 and pointed out from the canal tour, is now an art gallery. Originally a hospital for pilgrims run by nuns and monks from the 9th to 19th centuries, it now displays the works of Flemish artists.