Shetland: Ashley Jensen stars in BBC drama trailer

Ashley Jensen, who is perhaps best known for her roles in After Life and Extras alongside Ricky Gervais, is playing DI Ruth Calder in the upcoming series of Shetland.

She’s replacing 57-year-old actor Douglas Henshall, who portrayed DI Jimmy Perez since the BBC crime drama’s inception.

During an interview on the latest episode of The One Show, the audience was treated to a trailer for the new series with Ashley in character.

The clip showed tension between DI Calder and her colleague as she can be heard saying: “It’s not my first time here, I was born here.”

It looked as though Ashley’s character received a frosty reception from the local police force, and the trailer left fans intrigued.

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Addressing how it feels to replace Douglas on the long-running series, Ashley, 54, said: “It’s very exciting and quite a privilege, to be honest – it’s such a well-loved show which has been going for, I think, 10 years now.

“To have the experience of going to Shetland and joining something which is so loved is amazing.”

Opening up about her character, Ashley explained: “She’s very much a London-centric police officer who has been dragged to Shetland against her will.”

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The actress also joked about her blonde hair changing style throughout the series with The One Show’s hosts.

Ashley quipped: “Her hair goes on a journey, it starts off straight and then the Scottish weather got to it.”

Filming Shetland was a highlight for the Scottish star who said the landscape almost looked “alien”.

She described the place as both “bleak and beautiful” and “almost mythical”.

Between takes, Ashley and her co-stars were desperate to see if they could spot any of Shetland’s wildlife, but sadly, she did not see any orcas.

The new series will see her character return to her native Shetland to retrieve the vulnerable witness to a gangland murder.

Douglas told News 24 at the time his exit was announced: “I decided to leave a few years ago because I felt that his story was coming to a natural end – it was time to find a resolution to Perez’s private life.

“I never wanted to ruin the things that were unique to him and our series, so it felt like the right time to wrap up his story in a way that would be satisfactory to everybody.

Shetland returns on Wednesday, November 1 at 9pm on BBC One.

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