Factual error: Marie is a female name. Therefore, the island should be Sainte Marie, not Saint.
Factual error: The fictional island of Saint Marie where the series takes place is a British territory - after all, the whole gig is about fish-out-of-water British cops in the tropics. Specifically the Commissioner explains the history of the island to DI Richard Poole driving him to the station the first time and says that it was a French territory but in the mid 70s they handed it back to the British. Despite that, throughout the whole series the police and almost every local drive (on the left) vehicles with French registration plates, specifically with the 971 code of Guadeloupe, where the series is shot. In the first seasons the British police also routinely sends evidence and other critical parts of the job to labs in Guadaloupe, effectively out of the country. Seems quite absurd that in 40 years the British wouldn't have established vital parts of administration and rely entirely on French neighbours.
Episode #1.7 - S1-E7
Factual error: The victim has been shot while he was lying in the coffin with his arms crossed. Somehow, he keeps his arms perfectly crossed even when he's dead, despite being carried around in a casket propped in vertical position merely a little more than 15 minutes later. Rigor mortis takes way longer to begin, his lifeless arms would have flailed off position a long time before, not stayed in the dramatic mummy position with no supports to hold them in place. (00:04:30)
Episode #1.8 - S1-E8
Factual error: In the close-up of the password from Antigua and Barbuda, the nationality listed is "Antiguan", while as redundant as it seems, official passports from that country list it as "Antiguan and Barbudan." It also has no place of birth listed at all. (00:24:20)
Episode #2.3 - S2-E3
Factual error: At the end of the episode, Camille looks into Richard's telescope from the wrong end...and it works.
Episode #3.1 - S3-E1
Factual error: In the close-up of the letter accompanying the package sent by DI Richard Poole's parents, their address is from Oadby, Leicester, with a postcode starting by OL9, which is the designation for Oldham, in Lancashire. (00:26:00)
Episode #3.2 - S3-E2
Factual error: When Camille shows the emails to Humphrey, the last one in the list is dated Tue 15/01/2014, which was a Wednesday. It should also be noted that the list does not appear to be sorted by any criteria that would work on Outlook Express. (00:22:00)
Episode #3.3 - S3-E3
Factual error: Reading the dull travel guide, the island of Saint Marie is said to be 1/10 of Guadeloupe (≈162 km), 1/8 of Dominica (≈94 km), 1/6 of Saint Lucia (≈102 km), 1/5 of Martinique (≈225 km) and 1/3 of Barbados (≈146 km). How big IS Saint Marie then? It makes no sense! These very specific fractions (Goodman praises how meticulous the book is) contradict each other. It should also be noted that this fictional book is from 1929 and none of those entities were independent nations. (00:18:25)
Episode #3.6 - S3-E6
Factual error: Humphrey and the rest of the crew arrive on the murder scene, where Fidel is taking pictures of the body. With the knife fully planted inside the victim and pictures still to be taken, Fidel is already able to say that the knife has been wiped clean of prints; it's impossible that he could have already done such an assessment at that point.
Episode #4.5 - S4-E5
Factual error: Humphrey mentions that the fire that destroyed the recording studio happened in July 1991. The first page of the Saint Marie Times carrying the news though has Thursday 12th as a date; in July 1991, the 12th was a Friday. (00:16:25 - 00:16:55)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Factual error: Phony computer shenanigans happen when JP shows the rest of the gang the file he recovered from the trash; he plays a PX (Pixel32 file, unless it's meant to be some file for a fictitious app) like it's a full HD amazing video, straight from the bin without recovering it first. (00:33:05)
Factual error: The website of the toy manufacturer has as address for its store a location in Harrogate, but the ZIP code has an incorrect format, with the 4th character being an O and not a zero, and HG4 being the neighbouring Ripon. (00:28:30)
Factual error: Dwayne's phone during the intro says it's Saturday July 4th. The episodes (memorial banner, death certificate) takes place in 2016, when July 4th was a Monday.
Factual error: When JP shows the article from the Cowbridge Gazette, it is the Wednesday 22.01.16. January the 22nd was a Friday in 2016. Following article's date; Wednesday 2.2.2016. Actual 2.2.2016: a Tuesday. (00:15:25)
Factual error: The stratagem used to conceal the murder and disguise it as suicide is absurd from the start; it relies on the old trope of a gun "silenced" shooting through a pillow. It simply does not work, a gunshot in the early morning in the empty camp would have not been dulled down significantly by a pillow, and still be heard.
Factual error: Emer Byrne's Irish passport is fake. Look at the expiration date; the day of that date does not match the date of issue. A passport issued on September 24 wouldn't expire on September 01 as seen there, but on September 23. (00:16:15)
Factual error: When Humphrey makes the big reveal opening the suitcase full of cash, it's a bunch of wad of bills, each with the currency straps indicating a value of 50,000 (Eastern Caribbean) dollars. Thing is, it's all in $50 notes, which means there should be 1,000 bills in each wad, which is obviously not the case. (00:47:20)
In the Footsteps of a Killer - S6-E7
Factual error: In the denouement, DI Jack Mooney says that all the suspects could prove they were not in the building on Thursday June 22 2009. Which was a Monday. (00:41:10)
Factual error: Jack listens to an interview with the fictitious novelist Frank O'Toole who appeared on BBC 4's Radio Island Discs. The episode is labeled "Fri 9 Nov 1989", but November the 9th in 1989 was a Thursday, not a Friday. (00:16:00)
Murder on the Day of the Dead - S7-E5
Factual error: The story is set in February 2018, but when Jack and Florence go talk to Hugh Davenport, he is reading the latest finance news.from the May 4th 2017 newspaper. (00:32:50)
Answer: There's probably no particular reason. Sets and props on long-running TV shows often change as needed and for various reasons throughout a series run.
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