Ben Miller has expressed his concerns about being cancelled in the age of social media. The 60-year-old actor, who played Detective Inspector Richard Poole in the BBC series Death In Paradise, spoke to Radio Times about his show Austin, now in its second series, where he plays a children's author who has been cancelled.
Asked if he worries about cancellation, Miller replied: "I think we all worry about it a bit, don't we? Even somebody who's not on TV who puts a post on their social media takes a very small risk that it's going to cause a complete Twitter [X] storm."
He added: "Social media is set up to produce that kind of situation, so whatever you put on social media is basically chum to the sharks that can't stand your guts."
Cancellation concerns
Miller's comments come as he stars in the second series of Austin, a comedy-drama about a cancelled children's author. The actor has been open about his own anxieties surrounding online backlash.
He also reflected on his time on Death In Paradise, where his character DI Richard Poole was killed off at the beginning of Series 3 in 2014. When asked if he would ever return for a prequel, he said: "If I wasn't so ruddy old, I could play him in a prequel! I loved the character and I loved the show."
Death In Paradise prequel hopes
Miller admitted he misses the character and revealed that series creator Rob Thorogood continues to write stories for Richard Poole. "It just came at a slightly unfortunate time in my life. But I do really miss that character," he said. "And funnily enough, Rob Thorogood [the Paraverse creator and writer] has carried on writing stories for Richard Poole, which is quite fun, so that's a nice way to live the character again."
Miller left Death In Paradise after the series three opener, "Death of a Detective", explaining that filming in Guadeloupe meant long stretches away from his family, making it difficult to balance work and home life. Since then, several other detectives have taken on the role, with Don Gilet currently playing Detective Inspector Mervin Wilson in the most recent series.
Death In Paradise is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
