Shetland's Ashley Jensen teases potential romance for Calder – but "there's a conflict of interest"

Shetland might be a gritty crime drama, but that doesn't mean it's devoid of levity – as we see in the opening scene of season 10, when Calder regales Tosh with a recent dating disaster.

"We were getting to the end of the meal, we were talking... just all the usual first date stuff," she said. "And then I looked up and..."

Calder's date had fallen asleep, in the middle of his tiramisu.

"So what did you do?" asked Tosh.

"I paid the bill and I left. I didn't want to disturb him," laughed Calder, who clearly wasn't aggrieved by how the date had panned out.

"I think the thing with Calder is, I think she's gone on to this online dating app because she feels that she has to, a little bit, because that's the way people do it," Ashley Jensen told RadioTimes.com.

"She lives in Shetland, there's not that much to do," joked Alison O'Donnell. "So you might as well go on a date."

She's not wrong...

"But I think that she's a lady of a certain age, when you used to meet someone and feel a frisson with them," Jensen added. "And I think ultimately, that's what she would rather do."

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Calder then goes on to say that she's "done with all this dating lark".

"Well, for a while, anyway."

Or so she says...

When the body of retired social worker Eadie Tulloch is uncovered, Calder and Tosh set about trying to unmask who killed her – and why.

"The case will see them excavate the victim’s life, past and present, as well as the lives of those who knew her," reads the official synopsis.

And one such person is Eadie's estranged son, Ed, to whom Calder breaks the news.

During their first interaction, there's nothing to suggest that there could be something bubbling away between the pair. But Calder soon discovers that Ed didn’t get along with his mum and hadn’t spoken to her in over a year — something she’s able to relate to, given her own complicated relationship with her late dad.

But when Calder returns to Ed's pub that evening — during a poetry night — to speak to him about his mum's finances, their dynamic shifts, just a little.

He's been asked to identify Eadie's body as her next of kin, and he asks Calder if she'll accompany him.

"Be great to have a friend. I mean, I know we're not friends, but I knew Cal... we were in a band together way back."

Cal Innes was an old flame from Calder's younger years, and when she returned to Shetland, it quickly became clear that that flame hadn't entirely been extinguished, with the pair spending the night together.

But they never had the chance to explore what their relationship could be, or if it could be anything at all, because Cal was killed while driving under the influence of both drink and drugs, leaving the detective emotionally crushed.

Following Ed's request, Calder hesitates while processing his connection to Cal, before agreeing to be present while he identifies his mum.

He then responds with a look that could simply be gratitude — but this is Shetland, so you'd be forgiven for expecting more.

Rather than leave, Calder decides to stay and watch Ed read a poem he's written after being summoned by a friend, and this time, the expression on her face suggests that there will be more to come between the pair.

"When she meets the son, it’s a bit like, oh, right, okay," explained Jensen. "And I think that there’s a kind of element of he didn't talk to his mum — they had a very strange, strained relationship, as did Calder with her dad. And I think that there’s an affinity there, a kind of understanding.

"Plus, I think she probably just fancied him as well... so there is an energy there, shall we say."

But O'Donnell was quick to point out that "there’s a conflict of interest there".

"Absolutely," agreed Jensen. "And that's why, in this series, things become enmeshed and entwined in certain ways they ought not to be."

Shetland season 10 airs on Wednesdays at 9pm 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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