Shetland recently returned to TV screens for its ninth season, leaving fans delighted. The latest instalment of the BBC crime drama sees DI Ruth Calder (Ashley Jensen) and DI Alison 'Tosh' McIntosh (Alison O'Donnell) investigate the mysterious disappearance of Tosh's friend, Annie Bett, whose body was soon found.
There's been a lot of changes in the new season, in which DI Calder will take centre stage after permanently returning to Shetland. Her sidekick Tosh has also undergone some personal changes and character development, which actress Alison opened up about ahead of the launch of the latest series on BBC One.
With Tosh having been promoted to DI, she's now DI Calder's right-hand woman, meaning her confidence has grown immensely. Alison revealed her character has been "on a journey" over recent seasons, with the latest series seeing her tackle imposter syndrome from time to time.
"Tosh is where she has always been - Lerwick Police Station. Only now, side-by-side with DI Ruth Calder, she's in charge too," Alison revealed. "I think she's been on a journey with her confidence ever since we first met her with her braces and her bobble hat."
Discussing her character's development, the actress continued: "For sure her confidence has increased pretty rapidly over the last couple of years as she has stepped into the breach following Perez's departure and discovered she was more capable than she perhaps first thought.
"She still has little moments of doubt, though, and I think that's important because the audience have watched her grow from rookie status to ‘heid bummer’ [the big boss] and it's both realistic and relatable that she would wobble from time to time. I think everyone has imposter syndrome, some people are just better at hiding it than others."
The first two episodes of the ninth series of Shetland have already aired, with the third following on Wednesday, 27 November at 9pm. All three episodes are available to stream on BBC iPlayer, too.
However, Shetland fans weren't overly impressed with the first couple of episodes. BBC viewers claimed to be "struggling" to get into the series as they say it's going "downhill" while the second episode aired on 20 November.
One viewer took to X, formerly known as Twitter and said: “Struggling a bit with this series…… #Shetland.” Another said: “Really struggling with this series of #shetland Just not invested in McCagney & McLacey.” (sic)
A third wrote: “Urgh. #Shetland went downhill fast.” Meanwhile one added: “Modern dramas are so plodding and naff #Shetland.” (sic)
Shetland airs Wednesdays at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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