Shetland's Alison O'Donnell: 'Refresh has given it a new lease of life'
Shetland's longest-serving cast member talks life after Jimmy Perez.
Shetland's longest-serving cast member Alison O'Donnell has said that the "revamp" following Douglas Henshall's exit gave the BBC crime drama a "new lease of life".
"Dougie is an unbelievably smart person, he's really good at seeing the big picture with things, and I think he felt within himself that he'd told [Jimmy] Perez's story," she said of her former co-star's departure.
"We'd had seven brilliant seasons and he'd got to dig so deep into his personal life, his grief, his family history, his parents, and so many crime stories. And I think he felt himself that that's the story told. And you always want to keep people wanting more, you don't want to go beyond the point where people are really keen, so that all made complete sense.
"But then when there was the idea to revamp and take the show in another direction, I think it made me realise that actually, there are elements of this that still feel like they've got more room to grow. And I think that was really right. I think there was enough there that we could sort of re-imagine it all. So I think definitely the refresh has given it a new lease of life."
Read more:
- Shetland's Ashley Jensen reveals Tosh's emotional connection to new case "compromises her"
- Shetland star Alison O'Donnell: 'Secrets are going to come out'
O'Donnell also said that bringing in Ashley Jensen as DI Ruth Calder enticed "new audience members" to watch the show.
"That was the sense I got, that some people were discovering it for the first time," she added.
"And some people even said to me that they'd watched season 8 and then they'd gone back to the beginning as well. So it definitely gave it a new lease of life."
Season 9 of Shetland proves particularly challenging for Tosh when one of her friends goes missing, which "blurs the line between the personal and the professional".
"There are many threads to the new series," teased Jensen (via the BBC). "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. It's a very complex web this series."
Jensen went on to say that she chose to remain in the dark about "who the murderer was" so that she felt like she was "really in Calder's shoes".
"I was looking at people through the character's eyes thinking, 'What are you giving me?'" she added. "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."
Several familiar faces return alongside the two lead detectives, plus multiple new guest stars, including Ian Hart, who you might recognise from Mr Bates vs The Post Office and The Responder.
Shetland seasons 1-8 are available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Ann Cleeves's Shetland novels are available to buy now.
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Authors
Abby Robinson is the Drama Editor for Radio Times, covering TV drama and comedy titles. She previously worked at Digital Spy as a TV writer, and as a content writer at Mumsnet. She possesses a postgraduate diploma and a degree in English Studies.
