Shetland crime drama returns to TV screens

THERE will be another murder. Shetland, the television crime drama dubbed “The McKilling” for its ability to combine quality knitwear with a bloody demise, has been recommissioned by 
the BBC.

Filming for six new episodes based on the crime novels of Ann Cleeves, starring Douglas Henshall as Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez, will take place in the Shetland Islands and other parts of Scotland during the summer after BBC Scotland yesterday announced the new £3 million commission.

Last month, the two-part drama was broadcast on BBC1 and attracted a combined audience of more than 12 million viewers, who were drawn in by a murder investigation played out against the backdrop of the winter fire festival Up-Helly-Aa.

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The pilot drama was based on Ann Cleeves’s second “Shetland” novel, Red Bones, and the next three two-part dramas will be adaptations of Raven Black, Dead Water and Blue Lightning.

The commission is further 
evidence of TV audiences’ enthusiasm for crime dramas, with BBC Scotland enjoying recent success with Field of Blood, an adaptation of Denise Mina’s novel, and Case Histories, based on the novels by Kate Atkinson.

Yesterday, Christopher Aird, head of drama at BBC Scotland and the executive producer of Shetland, said: “I am so pleased we are taking Shetland to a full series. Douglas Henshall is a hugely talented lead and Shetland is such a unique part of the country. We can look forward to a series of characterful, thrilling and windswept stories.”

He said the commission came at an exciting time for drama from Scotland and complemented distinctive productions that included Waterloo Road, River City, The Challenger, Case Histories and Field of Blood, which won a Bafta Scotland award.

The dramas are also made by ITV Studios for BBC Scotland, and yesterday executive producer Elaine Collins said: “I’m thrilled by the terrific response we’ve had to Shetland. The 
Scottish landscape is one of the most beautiful places on Earth and I’m delighted to be given the opportunity to work again with Douglas Henshall and the team on Ann Cleeves’s wonderful Shetland stories.”

At the time of the broadcast of the first drama, Ann Cleeves said of the adaptation: “It’s great. It’s not faithful to the book but it’s faithful to the atmosphere and spirit of the book. 
It’s important that it’s a good piece of TV, rather than sticking rigidly to the book.”

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It is also hoped that the drama will boost tourism to the islands in the same way that Plockton benefited from TV drama Hamish Macbeth.

Andy Steven, destination development manager with Promote Shetland, which has produced a map of areas featured in the novels, said: “People from all different parts of the UK have come to Shetland because of Ann’s books. With the TV drama, we anticipate that even more people will want to come and see Shetland’s rugged beauty for themselves.

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“It speaks volumes that Ann also has a strong local following and that she comes back again and again to launch her books.

“That’s because Shetland is one of her best characters and is so authentically portrayed, even if murders are extremely rare here and crime generally is very low.”