Anna Samson has made history as the first ever female lead detective in a brand new Death In Paradise spin-off, which will take the beloved series for Saint Marie to a brand new bay Down Under.

Return to Paradise will be set in sun-soaked Australia and follows DI Mackenzie Clarke as she solves a whole host of mysterious murders.

This role will certainly be a big break in the UK for Anna, who previously starred in one of Australia’s biggest soaps, and even dated one of her co-stars.

While Anna was born in the UK, she spent much of her childhood living in Nigeria before relocating to Australia when she was a teenager.

Of her plans to pursue an acting career, she told Toasting Aussie Theatre: ‘Like many children, play and performance had a wonderfully natural relationship for me.

‘Looking back I can see there was a frustrated actress burning in my Nan. She was a great comedienne and she could command your attention and change the energy of a room remarkably. Perhaps I picked up on this power.’

In her late teens, she moved to Melbourne so she could study at the Victorian College of the Arts.

Anna previously paid tribute to her ‘extraordinarily kind and wildly brave’ parents in a sweet Instagram post to mark their birthdays in 2022, adding: ‘Their love for each other is something that never ceases to bolster me. They have given me the most brilliant life.’

She went onto kickstart her acting career Down Under in 2012 with a role in the TV series Conspiracy 365, followed by a handful of appearance in the long-running drama series Winners and Losers.

While Anna landed a series of roles on Australian TV, including The Doctor Blake Mysteries and Jack Irish, she broke into US TV by appearing in the Syfy show Hunters in 2016, but it was axed after just one season.

Anna also starred in one episode of the HBO hit The Leftovers in 2017, before pivoting back to Australian TV with the thriller Dead Lucky in 2018.

While she was previously known for her ‘pretty girl’ image, in 2017, Anna said she was embracing the chance to ‘be ugly’ when she starred in the miniseries Wake In Fright, based on the 1961 novel of the same name.

The star played intimidating loan shark and former boxer Michaela ‘Mick’ Jaffries, and told BW Magazine at the time: ‘Wake In Fright explores that ugliness, it’s a series that’s not afraid to be ugly and neither am I.

‘As a young, female actor, the roles where you get to explore darkness, violence and masculinity don’t come along that often.

‘But women can be just as frightening, if not more frightening, than men.’

In 2020, Anna appeared in a remake of Stephen King’s Children Of The Corn, alongside My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2’s Elena Kampouris.