The ninth series of Shetland is due to kick off on BBC One on November 6 after being off screen for almost a year. The popular series has also been confirmed for a 10th season, much to fans' delight.
The new instalment of Shetland will see Ashley Jensen back as leading lady DI Ruth Calder, and she'll be joined by Scottish actress Alison O'Donnell, who portrays DS Alison McIntosh. Other stars set to star in Shetland are Ian Hart, Vincent Regan, Lewis Howden, Anne Kidd and Steven Robertson among others.
Alison has opened up about filming the ninth series and teased what fans can expect from her character. She revealed she enjoys filming Shetland as the production team are "sociable" and she manages to pack in a lot of activities while on the job.
"Our time in Shetland is actually really sociable. There are about 100 cast and crew so we tend to organise nights out together, trips to the beach or the cliffs. A lot of the crew have got really into wild swimming out there and head off to different beaches after work. We don't have a huge amount of down-time but do try to pack as much in as possible. I also spend a lot of time with my family and we have our favourite spots," she revealed.
Alison added: "I do miss it, of course. Particularly all the people I work with all day every day for several months. But it's also nice to get back to a more gentle pace and focus on other things too."
Elsewhere, Alison opened up about what we can expect from her Shetland character, who goes by the nickname Tosh. She spoke about the "journey" Tosh has been through and how this will impact her storylines in the new series.
"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 said. "I think she's been on a journey with her confidence ever since we first met her with her braces and her bobble hat."
The star added: "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’ 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."
Shetland season nine premieres on Wednesday, November 6, at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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English (US) ·