Entertainment / Watch: Trailer released ahead of first new Shetland episode
THE FIRST trailer for the new Shetland series has been released by the BBC.
Its cast has also spoken in depth about series nine, which will premiere on BBC One on Wednesday 6 November.
The BBC said a “double missing persons case blurs the line between the personal and the professional, as Calder and Tosh are drawn into a labyrinthine investigation”.
In the series DI Ruth Calder – played by Ashley Jensen – has decided to return to Shetland for good.
“Calder’s decided to return to Shetland because it almost felt like there was unfinished business there, or a sort of magnetic draw back home,” Jensen said.
“She’s there to find out who she is which, I think, goes against all her previous instincts. When she first came back during the last series, she thought that she’d be there to solve the case and then get away and get back to London, back to her life.
“But she’s experiencing that thing where home sometimes draws you back.”
Jensen said there are “many threads” to series nine.
“We jump back and forth in time – there’s a historical case, domestic relationships… there are so many different strands to the story and quite a lot of them are linked,” she added.
“It’s a very complex web this series. In fact, I decided that I wasn’t going to find out who the murderer was.
“So, for the first three episodes I felt like I was really in Calder’s shoes. I was looking at people through the character’s eyes thinking, ‘what are you giving me?’.
“Then I would leave a scene and quickly look back around again, just to see if somebody was doing something they shouldn’t have been behind the coppers’ backs after we’d gone.
“It added another element of fun for me. When I was playing the part, I wanted to be really present in every scene, to make myself look and listen to what people were saying, to see if I could solve the puzzle and ultimately, the crime.”
Speaking about Shetland the place, Jensen – who has appeared in huge TV shows like Extras, Ugly Betty and After Life – said it “kind of envelops you”.
“It’s the whole landscape, I mean the real star of the show is Shetland and the Shetland Isles…it’s an inimitable place. It’s like nowhere I’ve ever been before.
“It’s a landscape that’s arresting and breathtaking… it’s just a real privilege to be able to go back there.
“Obviously, when I did my first series, I didn’t know whether I was ever going to go back there, so I felt like I had to rush around buying Shetland jumpers and puffin poo and things like that, just in case.
“One of the day trips that we had was with Ian Hart [who plays Euan Rossi] and some of the crew. We drove for miles and got on two ferries up to Unst to visit the gin distillery there as well as the most northern tea room in the British Isles. It was amazing.
“Unst almost makes Lerwick look like a metropolis. When you get up to Unst, it’s really remote. And you really feel it there – you’re part of the landscape. It’s a very visceral, humbling place to be.”
Long-standing Shetland cast member Alison O’Donnell, who plays Calder’s colleague Tosh, said series nine is “close to home” for her character as a friend goes missing.
She added: “Tosh has an unshakeable integrity. She’s always going to do the right thing by the investigation which may not always sit well with her friends.
“Everyone is feeling compromised, stressed and mistrustful and these friendships are going to be tested. In an investigation like this, every stone must be unturned and a lot of secrets are going to come out.
“But for Tosh, this collateral damage is unavoidable. She feels the discomfort of it but her primary goal always is to unearth the truth and get justice, however that may look.”
She described Shetland as a “magical place” that has “got under my skin”.
One of the leading members of the guest cast is Ian Hart, who has appeared in the first Harry Potter film as well as Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
He plays the role of an experienced Oxford University professor who arrives in Shetland after discovering his former student has got missing.
When asked about his memorable moments during his time in Shetland, Hart said a quiz night in Scalloway sticks out.
“We started off well but as the pints went down, we started losing focus a little and forgot the whole object of the exercise was actually to correctly answer questions,” he said.
“It wasn’t just me though, Lesley Hart [who plays Noreen Stack] and Vincent Regan [who plays John Harris] were on my team too, but we were pretty awful to be honest.”
Regan (Traces, Luther: The Fallen Sun, Aquaman) meanwhile plays the role of an “old school Shetlander who has been recently widowed”.
When asked what makes Shetland a success, he said: “It’s the beautiful locations but I also think that it’s the fact that every year they find interesting stories and plotlines.
“They’ve also created characters that you believe in. The filmmakers have obviously found the right recipe to make it work – they play to their strengths.”
Also among the guest cast is Robert Jack, who plays the role of Ian Bett, a local businessman in charge of a construction firm.
Asked if he can sum up series nine in five words, the actor said: “Family secrets, strained friendship, conspiracies.”
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