Plagiarism in Pop Culture: Beyond Paradise

Jonathan BaileyJune 13, 2024

5 minutes read

In this column, we previously examined two separate episodes of the hit UK TV show Death in Paradise. The show has had two separate plagiarism stories (so far) in its 13-season run.

The first episode, from the show’s second season, involved a professor plagiarizing a student. The second episode, which was from the twelfth season, involved a plagiarism victim extorting the scientist who plagiarized him.

However, given the show’s popularity, spinoffs were inevitable. One of those spinoffs, Beyond Paradise, is already in its second season, with some 13 episodes having aired.

Set in the fictional West England town of Shipton Abbott, the show features Detective Inspector (DI) Humphrey Goodman, played by Kris Marshall. Humphrey was the DI for seasons 3-6 of Death in Paradise, and the new series continues his story after leaving Saint Marie.

But, while Humphrey never dealt with plagiarism in the original series, in episode 3 of season 1 of Beyond Paradise, he and his team have to unravel a complicated case of artistic plagiarism that goes back hundreds of years.

Content Warning: Spoilers for Beyond Paradise Season 1, Episode 3.

The Plot

The episode begins with Humphrey, DS Esther Williams and PC Kelby Hartford arriving at a manor house. There, we learn that the house’s owner, Louise Fitzallan, has agreed to purchase the famous painting Solo Mare from Terrance Witham. According to Louise, the artist, Augustus Craig, was her great-great-great grandfather.

The sale is a homecoming for the painting, which features a horse overlooking Shipton Abbott. However, the painting fails to impress the detectives, with Humphrey calling it a painting of a “horse’s bottom.”

Humphrey and Esther examine the painting.

We then learn that the sale will be final the next morning and that Kelby has been selected to stay in the room overnight to guard the painting. Humphrey and Esther leave, leaving Kelby to guard the painting, which is now hidden behind a curtain.

As Humphrey and Louise leave, protestors chanting “Justice for Edith” shout at them. According to Louise, they represent “Edith’s Army” and claim that the Solo Mare was the work of Edith Jay, a former stablehand at the manor who later became a recognized painter.

At around midnight, the power goes out in the manor. Kelby leaves the room briefly to investigate but returns to find nothing amiss. Through the window, he notices a man in an orange baseball cap leaving the manor but takes no action to stop him.

The next morning, at the unveiling, Louise draws back the curtain to reveal that the painting is missing, with only the frame left behind. The police immediately cordoned off the area and began their investigation.

Humphrey finds a broken window latch, and they learn about graffiti outside the manor that reads “THIEVES.” They become convinced Kelby was out of the room longer than indicated. Kelby, however, begins his hunt for the man in the orange hat.

Humphrey interviews Isla Jay, one of the protestors and a descendant of Edith Jay. She denies stealing the painting but provides a drawing of the painting, proving that Edith was the artist.

Kelby eventually locates the man in the orange hat. He reveals that he planned to steal the painting for Louise, but only after the sale went through to collect insurance money.

Seemingly at a dead end, Humphrey has a revelation. He realizes that the painting never left the room. He determined that Terrance learned about the plagiarism, likely by seeing the painted-over signature, and decided to steal his own painting to avoid it being discovered after the sale.

Terrance created a custom frame that would roll up the painting on command and hide the painting while Kelsey was in the room. The power outage and broken latch were merely distractions.

After a brief chase, Terrance is caught, and the painting is recovered.

Understanding the Plagiarism

The actual plagiarism itself is fairly simple. According to the story, Augustus Craig was a famous artist in his own time. He took Edith Jay on as an unofficial student. However, after she created Solo Mare, Craig opted to claim the work for himself by painting over her signature.

Throughout the episode, the signature and the style are the sole pieces of evidence that it was a Craig painting. However, painting over a signature is not difficult and he wouldn’t be the first artist accused of stealing a student’s work.

So, the plagiarism itself is fairly realistic. This kind of plagiarism is very simple. Craig’s fame would have granted him a great deal of trust and the technology to debunk him wouldn’t come for some time. In truth, Craig is likely not the first nor the last to do exactly this.

The problem is with what happens in modern times.

The episode emphasizes that the town has been divided over this issue for generations. The question is simple: Why wasn’t it examined before now?

This is especially true considering the sale. Though neither party intended to proceed with the sale (both seeking to steal it), resolving this issue would be a logical step in the vetting process.

But then there is the other issue: The value of the painting. The episode claims that the value would plummet if the painting were by Edith Jay. But why?

Edith Jay was, by all accounts, a famous artist as well. As the episode points out while discussing the value of stolen art, the story of the painting can increase its value. This story would make Solo Mare a one-of-a-kind. It’s a work by a well-known artist that was plagiarized by a more famous artist.

While it would definitely need to be reappraised, I can’t fathom its price plummeting with that history. At the very least, it would still be a very valuable painting.

Bottom Line

In the end, the plagiarism story in this episode is central to the overall plot. Though it first appears to be a red herring, it is ultimately central to why and how the painting was stolen.

The plagiarism itself is fairly realistic and likely occurred at some point. However, how the allegations were handled in modern times left much to be desired.

It’s difficult to believe that, if there had been this much controversy and evidence, no one had vetted the painting before now. There’s simply too much money and too much history at stake.

That said, I don’t believe that discovering the plagiarism would have hurt the painting’s value. Though the market for high-value art is bizarre, a one-of-a-kind piece with this background should still have a place of prestige.

In short, it’s a good episode reflecting a very real kind of plagiarism (at least potentially). It’s just unlikely that it would have come to this resolution.

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Jonathan BaileyJune 13, 2024

5 minutes read