Continuity mistake: When Humphrey opens the bag, various items fall on the table including a small trophy cup, which lands perfectly vertical on its base. In the subsequent close-up of the messy table, the cup is lying down, and all the various items (look at the conch) are just scattered around differently than before. (00:45:00)
Continuity mistake: When at the end of the denouement Neil Jenkins and Freddie Hamilton are face to face, the tears that were running all the way down the face of the actor have been wiped clean, leaving just a bit below the eye. (00:45:10)
Other mistake: Humphrey's flashback when he is on the balcony of the room is about a sentence he never heard, since the second interview was done by Florence and Dwayne.
Continuity mistake: DI Goodman holds the recently sharpened knife and goes through a few smug ways to tell Dwayne the chef was left-handed. The knife faces a different direction depending on the shot's angle - towards Dwayne in Danny John-Jules' close-up, upwards when he says 'left-handed'. (00:07:30)
Continuity mistake: Classic mistake of the series (happens at least in a couple episodes per seasons); the Detective Inspector writes down names on the whiteboard, but they are written in different penmanship in close-up compared to the wider angles. In this particular case, the detail that is most telling is how Humphrey puts a little underline on some of the names, which is at very obviously different distance for the victim and the pastry chef. (00:14:00)
Continuity mistake: When Florence calls Humphrey's attention announcing that the brother of the victim has a criminal record, she's holding the pen with the cap towards herself. Cut, and the pen is pointed in the opposite direction. (00:16:30)
Continuity mistake: Florence drives into the pothole by Goodman's instructions; when he goes "Whaa!" and throws the papers in the air, the actress' hands turn around on the wheel, with the right hand at 2 o' clock - but it's nowhere to be seen in the next shot, and the left is almost at the zenith, when the wheel was turning the opposite direction. (00:17:40)
Continuity mistake: Goodman and Cassell are interviewing the pasty white brother of the victim at his hut. During the scene, the folder Humphrey holds close to his body is positioned differently (horizontal/vertical) as the two main camera angles alternate in the dialogue. When Gary puts on a shirt, the folder even switches hands, blatantly. (00:18:10)
Other mistake: Dwayne goes through the deleted text messages in Robert's phone. The messages have as dates "Thursday 19" and "Saturday 21st." Given that the year is 2016, the dates are compatible with the month of May, but the episode is set on April 29 - it's the date on the police report for both Matt Holt's background check and the bank receipt Gary Holt shows. (00:19:25 - 00:29:45)
Character mistake: The webpage Florence is using to get information about Pierre Lovell (which seems like a corporate official page), was written by someone who does not know how to spell "restaurateur", since it appears as "restauranteur", twice. (00:20:25)
Continuity mistake: The victim's fiancée prepares a green smoothie and answers the questions of the police about the private investigator's findings. When she points the picture on the counter, notice how in close-up there are no photos directly by DS Florence Cassell's arm, and in the other shots there are. The whole position of the pictures seems to vary at each cut. (00:20:50)
Continuity mistake: During the conversation with Anouk Laban, Humphrey Goodman gets all defensive saying that "we're not all like that", placing his hand on his hip. Before and after this attempt at humour, Kris Marshall has his arm on the bar counter. (00:21:50)
Character mistake: Matt Holt's profile contains a very minor typo (missing space between 'mother' and 'was') and lists his age as 20, while he's still 19, having his birthday in August. The biggest mistake though lies in the fact that it processes a request dated 29 of April; it should be the 30th, just like Gary's. (00:26:10)
Revealing mistake: While they are checking out Matt Holt's discount Facebook page (Face-spaces dot com) on the computer, behind the browser window there's an open file with a fingerprint, and like in another episode of this series, it's a fingerprint not related at all to this case, but one from three years earlier, the episode of season 3 "Ye of Little Faith", this time from the victim of that case Natasha Thiebert. (00:26:30)
Revealing mistake: Florence and Humphrey are reading the article about the young Dexter Allen from the Hackney Gazette. Behind the article, Florence has her mail open. Amazingly enough, the names of the people she received mail from (Joshua, David, Faye, a Customer service) are the same ones as the victims in She Was Murdered Twice, season 4 episode 7 when one of the suspects opened it from a public computer. (00:30:45)
Continuity mistake: It's time for a motive for Kim Sweeney, and the inspector and DS go to interview her. She is in her bed, surrounded by used paper tissues, which change position between shots. (00:33:45)
Continuity mistake: When Dwayne informs his bosses that they used to call him "The Shaquille O'Neal of Saint Marie", he is suddenly leaning again against the bar post, he was not before the cut. (00:50:05)
Continuity mistake: The DS, DI and Officer Myers are looking at JP when Dwayne says that there's "trouble in paradise." The bottles of beer turn in their hands in between shots. (00:50:20)
Other mistake: JP tells the others that his fiancée cooked him a great meal for the two-month anniversary the other night. Suddenly, the three months anniversary is coming up and he proposes - but just a day passed.
Other mistake: It is never clarified why the victim paid his brother; besides that, the bank statement has the date of April 29 and most facts point at the date being the one the episode is supposed to take place at. The investigative report though refers to a meeting happening in January - would hardly be something the aggressive legal team of the even more aggressive chef would keep on their desk for 3 months.
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.
raywest ★