Hit Scots BBC show reveals incredible new cast as it resumes filming for TENTH series
A GALAXY of guest stars have been announced for Shetland after the popular TV programme started filming its tenth series.
The hit BBC show will return to screens later this year with Ugly Betty favourite Ashley Jensen, 55, and Alison O’Donnell, 41, reprising their lead roles as DI Ruth Calder and DI Alison ‘Tosh’ MacIntosh.
It was revealed today that joining them in the cast for the new six-parter are The Witcher actor Clive Russell, Line of Duty’s Niall MacGregor, Gary: Tank Commander favourite Greg McHugh and Vera’s Frances Gray.
Louise Brealey, who featured in Clique, Into the Deep’s Stuart Townsend, Toxic Town actor Stephen McMillan, Saskia Ashdown from Karen Pirie, Outlander’s Joanne Thomson, Screw star Gabriel Akuwudike and Leigh Biagi of The Prodigal Father are also new additions.
While Back to Black’s Samuel Anderson appears as the new Procurator Fiscal Matt Blake alongside series regulars Steven Robertson (playing DC Sandy Wilson), Lewis Howden (Sgt Billy McCabe), Anne Kidd (pathologist Cora McLean), Angus Miller (Donnie, Tosh’s partner), Conor McCarry (PC Alex Grant) and Eubha Akilade (PC Lorna Burns).
The upcoming Shetland series, originally based on award-winning novels by crime writer Ann Cleeves, sees Calder and Tosh travel to the isolated hamlet of Lunniswick to investigate the sinister killing of an elderly woman.
Most read in TV
They discover that the body of the retired social worker has been out in the elements for a number of days.
The case will see Tosh and Calder excavate the victim’s life, past and present, as well as the lives of those who knew her. They soon begin to uncover dark secrets and terrible deeds at the heart of this closeknit community.
Shetland was the most watched BBC Drama of 2024 in Scotland as viewers got to grips with Jensen taking over the reins from Douglas Henshall, who played DI Jimmy Perez in the BBC series for nine years.
The actress previously revealed how she turned the cop show into her own personal whodunnit.
Most read in News TV
This was accomplished by keeping herself in the dark by refusing to discover who the killer is until she nicks them.
She said: “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.”