Shetland’s Ashley Jensen teases “reluctant” new detective
The incoming Shetland star opened up about her brand new character.
Fans of Shetland can't wait to see what new detective Ruth Calder will be bringing to the show, but incoming star Ashley Jensen has revealed that Ruth isn't as enthusiastic to arrive in the area.
The actress, who'll be taking over from Douglas Henshall as the show's lead for season 8, opened up about her new character to RadioTimes.com at the Radio Times Covers Party, revealing that she's originally from the titular Scottish islands.
"She's actually from Shetland but she left very young and was desperate to get away so she's kind of quite reluctant to get back."
She continued: "I've read the first two scripts and they're wonderful, they're very good, very character based and I'm very excited about doing it."
In July last year, Henshall announced that he would be quitting the long-running detective show and bringing Jimmy Perez's story to "a satisfactory end".
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"It’s been one of the privileges of my career to play Jimmy Perez for almost 10 years and to work with so many wonderful people both in front of and behind the camera, and also to spend so much time in Shetland," he added.
The actor later said that his exit was "a little anticlimactic" with his final scenes being filmed in a car park.
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As for his replacement, Henshall told RadioTimes.com that Jensen is "a great actor" and "very different" from himself.
"So, I mean, I think it will be interesting to have two women leading up this detective show on the isles and see what that brings."
Additional reporting by Abby Robinson.
Look out for exclusive photos and chats from the Radio Times Covers Party in next week's issue of Radio Times magazine, on sale Tuesday 7th February.
Shetland season 8 will air on BBC One, while season 7 is available on BBC iPlayer. Ann Cleeves's Shetland novels are available to buy now.
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