(Douglas
Henshall)
October 15, 2019, sees the return of the
popular crime drama Shetland to ITV
Choice (Channel 123) for the fourth and latest series of this award-winning
detective series.
Starting at 20h00 and running for six
weeks, the show is based on the bestselling detective books by award-winning crime
writer Ann Cleeves, with most of the storylines taking place on the eponymous
Scottish archipelago. The series, which won the award for Best TV Drama at the
2016 BAFTA Scotland Awards, stars Douglas Henshall as Jimmy Perez, a detective
inspector working for the Shetland police with a supporting cast that includes
Alison O'Donnell, Steven Robertson, Mark Bonnar, Lewis Howden and Erin
Armstrong.
Henshall, who won the award for best actor
for his role as Jimmy Perez at the above-mentioned BAFTAS, answers a few
questions about the series and his character ...’’
What
do you think audiences like about the series?:
I think first and foremost it’s the
characters. Secondly, closely followed by, the place that it’s set in. Not only
because it’s beautiful but because it’s like another character in the show. I
think people are drawn to the place because they imagine themselves there. But
I really have to give credit to the writers and producers because they are the
prime reason. And the books, they’re incredibly popular. All those ingredients
together work very well for us!
How
do you think Perez has changed since we first met him?
I think he’s slightly more disillusioned
than he was. Shetland’s a lot more violent than he thought it was going to be -
people seem to get murdered there a lot! And I think he’s finding being without
his wife a lot harder, and the idea that he is still alone 10 years after it
happened is as much of a surprise to him as everyone else. Bringing up a young
daughter has been very difficult and reminds him of the loss he’s had and how
he can’t be with anyone that’s not good for her.
Do
you relate to Perez?
Very much. When I read the script at first,
the things that sprung at me were that he seemed to be quite kind, empathetic
and wanted to find the best in people. Also his relationship towards the women
in his life, such as Tosh - he seems to genuinely like women, which I thought
was quite unusual in a police show. All of those things drew me in and
similarly I try to put my own self in there as well. I felt Perez was far
removed from a typical police television character!
Can
you give us a teaser of what’s in store this series?
At the start of the series, a human hand
washes up on a Shetland beach. A few hours later, more body parts are
discovered in a hold-all that has been dumped at sea. The victim is identified
as a young Nigerian man, spotted a few days before. In investigating his
murder, Perez becomes involved in the search for a vulnerable young woman,
leading him to uncover a complex network of human trafficking across Scotland’s
remote rural communities.
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