Shetland's Ashley Jensen said her arrival as new DI could have "gone one way or another"
"When I got this, I just thought, 'I'm doing a six part series with this character and that's it.'"
Joining a show in its 8th season, and as a replacement for a lead character who's loved by fans, is not for the faint of heart. But when Ashley Jensen joined Shetland as Douglas Henshall's replacement, she had no expectations about her future on the BBC crime drama.
"I think when you've started at the bottom in your career, which is what I did, going in and doing two lines in something, and doing a play where you take the set in the back of a van, put it up, do the show, take it down and go to the next, I think when you started there, it's actually a very good grounding to taking nothing for granted," she told RadioTimes.com.
"And when I got this, I just thought, 'I'm doing a six-part series with this character and that's it,' – and I wasn't under option to do any more than that. So when we did the first one and then it suddenly got two [more seasons] off the back of that, it was a nice feeling because it could have gone one way or another."
Jensen went on to praise the manner in which her character DI Ruth Calder was introduced – a moment she believes could have been make of break for Shetland.
"I think what they did very cleverly was they kept very much the essence of the show, and Calder's whole super objective of the first series was, 'I want to get the hell away from here.' She never came on and was Billy big boots going, 'I've come to take over.' Everyone would be like that, 'Who are you?' And I think the audience would have done that. But instead, it led them in, it teased them in a wee bit more.
"It kept everything and it elevated you [gestures to Alison O'Donnell], which I think the audience were crying out for. They wanted to know a bit more of Tosh."
O'Donnell, who plays Calder's partner, DI "Tosh" McIntosh, echoed those comments.
"They got both, didn't they?" she said. "Anyone who was feeling, 'My heart's with Perez,' they could go on the journey with her – like, 'Oh, who's this newcomer, and she doesn't even want to be here.'
"There was this softly, softly approach. They were never pressing her onto anybody. But then, just by sleight of hand, she made her way into the thing. It was really clever."
Two seasons on from Jensen's debut, Calder and Tosh are still hard at work solving crimes on the islands – this time, they're investigating the murder of former social worked Eadie Tulloch.
"The murder itself is a peculiar death as the victim is an older woman and she’s positioned in a rather macabre way," said Jensen. What makes it worse is she’s outside her house, exposed to the elements and she’s been out there for a few days. And because it’s a small community, everyone’s a bit suspicious."
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Jensen also described season 10 as "the best storyline out of the three I’ve been involved in".
"I love the detail of this one and the fact that all the locals are suspects in the murder case. And another fascinating element of this storyline is that the personal lives of the police officers become embroiled in this case, which has been interesting for us all to play.
"There are relationships in the station which become fraught and fractious."
Shetland season 10 airs on Wednesdays on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Seasons 1-9 are available to stream on iPlayer now. Ann Cleeves's Shetland novels are available to buy.
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Authors
Abby Robinson is the Drama Editor for Radio Times, covering TV drama and comedy titles. She previously worked at Digital Spy as a TV writer, and as a content writer at Mumsnet. She possesses a postgraduate diploma and a degree in English Studies.
