Episode #1.1 - S1-E1
Continuity mistake: In the opening, two men (one turning out to be future longest serving original cast member, Danny John-Jules) are playing one-to-one basketball. A couple guys are mending nets just by the hoop...but are gone right away in the faraway shot. (00:00:15)
Episode #1.1 - S1-E1
Continuity mistake: Sgt. Lily Thomson drives detective inspector Poole to the beach shack. In the opening wide shot she has her left hand on the steering wheel, but in the closer angles the hand at 12 o'clock is the right hand instead. (00:09:10)
Episode #1.1 - S1-E1
Continuity mistake: Following James Lavender to the beach, Richard calls him "a little proprietorial", DS Lily Thomson between cuts has alternately her right hand on her hip or not. (00:14:00)
Episode #1.1 - S1-E1
Continuity mistake: The 'cleaning lady' hands Richard a used paper tissue. In the close-up of her hand he is picking it up by a messy, crumpled part, but in the next shot Ben Miller is holding it by a side pretty much straight. (00:19:25)
Episode #1.1 - S1-E1
Continuity mistake: DI Richard Poole is in front of the panic room, explaining how the murder happened. He is holding two evidence bags; the fact that the one with the .22 gun changes position between shots several times is made more obvious by the fact that the tag is visible, and each time Richard's fingers are covering different letters. (00:44:20)
Episode #1.1 - S1-E1
Continuity mistake: Richard just closed the shack leaving the pet lizard behind, and is talking to the Commissioner who roped him into staying. Fidel and Dwayne are looking at them; the lighting in close-up differs noticeably from the wider angle (check out of the shadow on Dwayne's arm and on the wall). (00:50:35)
Episode #1.2 - S1-E2
Continuity mistake: When coming out of the sea at the start, the guy's hair goes from sleek to messy and back between shots. (00:02:00)
Episode #1.2 - S1-E2
Continuity mistake: Richard is walking through the market fending off the various street vendors. There's a POV shot ending with a woman wearing a headscarf that offers him something that "looks absolutely delicious." In the following shot Richard is still dodging the woman, who gives way to him moving aside in an entirely different way. (00:02:05)
Episode #1.2 - S1-E2
Continuity mistake: When Richard is walking in the market a woman holds out an item for him. The camera changes and this item is now held in a completely different way. (00:02:30)
Episode #1.2 - S1-E2
Continuity mistake: When William welcomes the police to the floor, his hand is outstretched. When camera changes his hand is no longer outstretched. (00:06:20)
Episode #1.2 - S1-E2
Continuity mistake: When Richard has concluded that one of the 6 people in the lift killed the bride, the shot changes to show Fidel and Dwayne loading the 4x4 up. Fidel is putting the lights in the back, camera changes and now he's receiving goods off Dwayne. (00:13:30)
Episode #1.2 - S1-E2
Continuity mistake: Camille and Richard are interrogating the victim's parents. The scene begins and the dad has both hands joined, fingers stretched out. Next shot and he has fingers entwined and only a second later he stretches them to assume the correct position. (00:14:15)
Episode #1.2 - S1-E2
Continuity mistake: Richard and Camille are questioning the maid, Margaret. She turns around after answering about the "Cleaning in progress" label, and her braid is down her back. In the rest of the scene, it is in front of her shoulder. (00:18:45)
Episode #1.2 - S1-E2
Continuity mistake: Richard calls it a day on the investigation, but he's still chatting about it with Camille during a walk. When he says "One thing's always puzzled me about weddings", two women are crossing the street in front of him. Few seconds and a cut later, when he mentions the bouquet, here they are again, the same girls crossing the same street coming from the same direction as before. (00:23:20)
Episode #1.2 - S1-E2
Continuity mistake: The two investigators meet with Adam Fairs poolside. In the establishing shots there's a hotel staffer closing by, carrying a pile of towels. When Camille poses her question, the man is nowhere to be seen. (00:28:05)
Episode #1.2 - S1-E2
Continuity mistake: When Diane is reading the prenup, the envelope goes from the middle of the papers to the top then the bottom without being moved. (00:33:55)
Episode #1.2 - S1-E2
Continuity mistake: When Camille circles Adam on the whiteboard the circle is complete, however a few seconds later it's half rubbed out. (00:37:46)
Episode #1.2 - S1-E2
Continuity mistake: In the ending, Camille throws her bag in the sand; between shots said bag is in entirely different spots and with the strap first on the left, then on the right. (00:50:10)
Episode #1.2 - S1-E2
Continuity mistake: When Poole writes the S for suspects on the whiteboard, its design changes between shots.
Episode #1.3 - S1-E3
Continuity mistake: Both before and after the credits, there are differences between the wider shot and the close-ups of the dead woman in the way she is lit. The hat and her nose cast shadows of different length and angle. (00:02:05 - 00:02:35)
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 ★