BBC's Shetland: Ashley Jensen takes over as lead after Douglas Henshall, read more

Ashley Jensen is quite famous for her roles in After Life, Extras, Ugly Betty and Nativity! She is all set to play DI Ruth Calder, who is coming home to Shetland after serving in London.

The show is based on Ann Cleeves' detective novels. The original lead Henshall starred as DI Jimmy Perez. However, he left the show earlier this year, leaving the show without a protagonist.

Jensen shared she was thrilled to join the show as the new lead and sang praises about the success of the show and felt nervous filling the boots of Henshall as the protagonist of the show because he was pretty popular with the fans.


She felt it was a privilege to be the lead of the show and she has missed working in Scotland. She added that her character will have a unique dynamic with the regular members of the show, and some new characters will be introduced in the new season. However, the world of the show and its integrity will remain the same as in all the previous seasons.

The latest season will be the eighth installment of Shetland and will be filmed on the namesake Isles and around Scotland. It will start airing in 2023.

We will also see characters like Alison McIntosh, Sandy, Billy, and Cora return for the newest edition. New cast members haven't been announced yet.

FAQs:

1. Who is the new lead of the show Shetland?
   Ashley Jensen is set to be the new lead for the show.
2. What books are the show Shetland based on?
   The books are based on Ann Cleeves' detective novels.