Shetland Series 1 -5 [DVD] [2019]

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So it’s not Tosh that Calder has an issue with – it’s the two different approaches to work. Both are valid and, as they start to work together as a team, they see their strength together. Ruth is used to getting things right and this is a complex case which is layered and doesn’t quite go the way she expects it to. There are so many different paths that she ends up going down. We have both grown older, we are both mothers, we both have a huge amount of experience under our belts. It's nice to be able to chart that journey for myself both on and off camera but this series, to be standing in front of the board, taking charge of the team...I felt like I had grown wings. Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen Tosh change from the chocolate vodka hungover new recruit to the temporary DI in charge…what’s that been like for you?

This new series is so fresh. The heart of the show remains - the team that we know and love - but everything is shaken up by the arrival of Calder and the crime that comes along with her. Calder brings out a different side in all of us, she draws us out of our cosy comfort zones and challenges us to dig deeper. Ashley Jensen is phenomenal in the role.Tosh [Alison O’Donnell] is just as professional as Calder but needs to find her own way to navigate a new working relationship - ultimately they respect one another. They don’t treat each other with caution, I think that it’s just literally two different approaches to police work coming together but there is an element of good cop, bad cop. She says:"I am absolutely thrilled to be joining Shetlandas DI Ruth Calder. It's such a hugely successful show and I am aware I have very big boots to fill since the departure of DI Perez, who was very much loved by fans of the show. I enjoy the presentation as it is realistic. There is none of the American "Hoop La" but down to earth presentation. I enjoy seeing the country side and the closeness interaction of the characters. The acting is excellent with the meaning coming through. Well, being in Shetland during a summer heatwave wearing layers of cashmere will certainly stay with me forever that’s for sure! Beyond that, the beaches and the sea were incredible but one of the things that delighted meon adailybasiswere the sheep – who knew there are so many different types?

I feel that Shetland is as much a character as the drama itself. Shetland is one of those places that I never, ever thought I would go or get a chance to work there. It was such a privilege to be there and rendered me speechless when I stepped off that wee plane the first time. There were Shetland ponies and puffins – it’s got its own identity which is quite exhilarating actually. As you view disk to disk you get to know and understand the characters and their feelings come through.Scotland and Shetland is a very special place and these films portray that well. The brogue is a little confronting sometimes. sometimes I think the pace of Shetland is an issue for Calder because it’s much slower than London and the urban policing she’s used to. Ruth’s a little bit of a lone wolf, she often dances to her own beat. I would say that Phyllis, Dawn and Lorraine really brought everyone together. They are wonderful, charismatic, generous women who really led the way with their performances and their professionalism. Sometimes it was hard to concentrate during the scenes because watching them perform was so distracting, like being in the front row of a hit show. She’s formidable, she’s strong, she’s a woman in a man’s world. Ruth Calder’s built this little barricade around herself - she’s almost like an island herself. However, Calder’s hostility to Shetland will challenge Tosh’s view of her adopted home and their journey into the darker recesses of Shetland's past and present will test this fragile, new partnership." What happened in episode 1?

This new series of Shetland boasts a stellar guest cast – what was it like working with the likes of Phyllis Logan, Dawn Steele, Jamie Sives and Lorraine McIntosh? I loved it actually but to be honest as soon as I read the first scripts I was like “I’m in!”. The writer [Paul Logue] has given everybody a rounded character even down to the hitmen, Howell [Don Gilét] and Nowak [Arnas Fedaravičius]. Just the nuance and the detail of every character is amazing.

Customer reviews

There’s this sort of idea that when we’re British we have to go far afield to get away. After living in America for years, I’ve got this pull to visit Scotland more, so when Shetland came up I couldn’t resist. Tosh is very comfortable in the role so she has definitely been doing it for some time and has really found her rhythm. She has an easy rapport with Sandy [Steven Robertson] and Billy [Lewis Howden] and the team seems to be functioning well and not dealing with anything too grizzly. She also has a great connection with Harry [Tibu Fortes], the new procurator fiscal, who really champions her. I also think Calder is a littleenviousof Tosh – sheappears to have it all, a family lifeanda career. When the police discover that Rosemary's boyfriend, Liam Kenmuir, has links to Peter and his hospital pass was also used the night Ellen's body was stolen, Tosh and Calder think they've got their killer. However, it doesn't take long for them to work out that he is covering for Rosemary and she is Peter's pen friend and the mysterious sheep-killer. But did she kill Ellen?