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‘Shetland’ Season 4 Premieres This Month, Star Douglas Henshall Teases The Season

By Amy Feinstein
Published on: 05:15 PST, Feb 4, 2018

Long-Awaited Series Shetland Is Back For Season 4

After what feels like forever, the mystery series Shetland season 4 starring Douglas Henshall is back, debuting on Tuesday, February 13th. Shetland, a series adapted from the novels of Ann Cleeves, who is also the writer behind the hit series Vera starring Brenda Blethyn, has developed a cult following, and viewers have been anxiously awaiting the release date for season 4. In the new season of Shetland, Detective Jimmy Perez played by Douglas Henshall has to reopen the case of a dead local teenager.

Shetland star Henshall says he attributes much of the success of Shetland to the support of locals on the islands. Henshall spoke to BBC to say that initially, the locals were suspicious about how they were going to be portrayed in the series. When the cast of Shetland returned to shoot Shetland season 2, he was nervous that they would face backlash, but that wasn’t the case.

“I was thinking ‘how is it going to be to go back to shoot series two?’ but the reaction to series one was fantastic because people had got that we weren’t trying to make fun of the people who live there or the islands in any way shape or form. We were actually trying to do something positive for the islands.”

Doug Henshall Attributes The Success Of Shetland To Author Ann Cleeves And Shetland Locals

Douglas Henshall adds that it is also a perk that Ann Cleeves has been so supportive of the series Shetland even though they haven’t exactly followed her novels.

“Ann has been as generous as it’s possible to be because we didn’t do the books in order, we added a character who isn’t in any of them and I look nothing at all like her idea of Jimmy Perez! I’m blonde, fair and Scottish and he was supposed to be olive skinned with Spanish hereditary from somewhere back in the day but she couldn’t be more supportive.”

Shetland has also increased in popularity now that fans can watch the series on several networks and streaming services including BBC, PBS, Netflix, and Amazon.

The Entire Cast Of Shetland Is Back For Season 4

The Sun has shared a tease from BBC about Shetland season 4 episode 1.

“When Thomas Malone has his conviction overturned after serving 23 years in jail, DI Jimmy Perez has to review the 1994 death of local teenager, Lizzie Kilmuir, and continue the investigation. Jimmy Perez (Henshall) is suspicious of Malone after a local journalist dies under similar circumstances.”

Fans can start watching Shetland season 4 next week, and the series will be laid out in six one-hour episodes. ITV Studios, the production team behind Shetland which works with BBC Scotland is excited to be working on the Scottish series once again according to executive producer Kate Bartlett.

“We are delighted to be working with BBC Scotland on this new series of Shetland. David Kane has created a compelling and distinctive crime story told across six hours. We are also thrilled to have the brilliant core cast return, led by Douglas Henshall.”

Returning to Shetland alongside Douglas Henshall according to IMDB are Alison O’Donnell as DS Alison McIntosh, as well as Steven Robertson who plays Sandy Wilson, Mark Bonner (Duncan Hunter) and Julie Graham (Rhona Kelly)

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