{"id":29571,"date":"2023-02-01T16:51:43","date_gmt":"2023-02-01T15:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1778473"},"modified":"2023-02-01T17:45:03","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T16:45:03","slug":"shetland-stars-tease-very-different-season-8-after-jimmy-perez-exit","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/shetland-stars-tease-very-different-season-8-after-jimmy-perez-exit\/","title":{"rendered":"Shetland stars tease \u201cvery different\u201d season 8 after Jimmy Perez exit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Douglas Henshall and Alison O’Donnell speak exclusively to RadioTimes.com about the future of the hit crime drama. <\/p>

By Patrick Cremona\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 01 February 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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It\u2019s set to be all change in Shetland<\/a> when the hit crime drama returns for season 8 \u2013 what with Douglas Henshall having left the show to be replaced as its lead star by Ashley Jensen.<\/p>\n

Jensen will be playing a new detective named DI Ruth Calder, who is drafted in to fill the gap left by the departing DI Jimmy Perez, and Henshall has teased that he imagines the show will be very different following that change.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a great actor and she\u2019s obviously very different from me,\u201d he told RadioTimes.com<\/a> during an exclusive interview at the Radio Times Covers Party. \u201cSo, I mean, I think it will be interesting to have two women leading up this detective show on the isles and see what that brings.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be very different, but I think that\u2019s what\u2019s most exciting about it \u2013 so yeah, I\u2019m looking forward to seeing it.\u201d<\/p>

One star who is going nowhere is Alison O\u2019Donnell, who will be reprising her role as DS Alison \u201cTosh\u201d McIntosh in the upcoming run, and she revealed that she\u2019s already been given a flavour of the new season \u2013 confirming that the show is going in a slightly different direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve read the first episodes, I\u2019ve been nagging my agent to get them to send me some more so I can read on a bit,\u201d she said. \u201cObviously, it does feel very different because it\u2019s not Perez, and Perez was the absolute centre and heart of the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what they\u2019ve done, which I think is the only thing they could have done, is taken off in another direction, but it feels different and fresh. And hopefully people will stay connected with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Alison O\u2019Donnell as DS Alison \u2018Tosh\u2019 McIntosh in Shetland. ITV Studios\/Mark Mainz<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Jensen herself recently teased that her new character \u2013 a native Shetlander who returns to the isles after 20 years working for the Met Police in London \u2013 will bring \u201ca whole new dynamic\u201d to the series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of almost more about the other people \u2013 about how Alison and all the other characters are going to relate to Ruth Calder, so that\u2019ll be really interesting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Abby Robinson.<\/em><\/p>\n

All the biggest exclusives from the Radio Times Covers Party:<\/strong><\/p>\n