BBC Shetland star recalls moment filming was halted as major scene disrupted
Ashley Jenson became the lead character of Shetland after taking over from DI Jimmy Perez back in 2023 and the Scottish actress has let slip with fans can expect from the new series
Shetland star Ashley Jensen has given fans a glimpse into what it’s like shooting the series as she shared one moment bosses were left ‘panicking’ after a major scene was disrupted.
The Scottish actress, 56, who made waves in hit US series Ugly Betty, joined the BBC crime drama as Di Ruth Calder back in 2023.
She became the lead character of the show, taking over from DI Jimmy Perez. Now the popular series is set to make its return to our TV screens for its 10th season in just a few days.
The BBC dropped a glimpse last month of what lies ahead, as Di Ruth and DS Lorna Tosh McIntosh (Alison O'Donnell) are summoned to an isolated village after the chilling killing of an elderly woman.
Ahead of the new series, Ashley appeared on Monday’s (November 3) episode of ITV hit chat show This Morning alongside hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard and it didn’t take long for the star to be quizzed on what fans can expect from her character.
Ben wasted no time and asked: “Just explain a little bit on what Calder is facing in this series.
Ashley explained: “She’s had a tip off from an informant and she goes to this fishing boat and she thinks she is going to find a lot of drugs. It involved sifting through a lot of fish and there were none, just a lot of fish.”
The actress then took the opportunity to share how they almost didn’t get to finish the key scene after a major disruption.
She explained: “We shot the first scene and then we got wind that the fisherman was going to sell his boat and we were like ‘we’ve still got scenes to do with the boat’ it let us know that life goes on.
“Despite the fact we are making a BBC One prime time TV show, he was like ‘well, I’ve got a buyer for my boat’. We ended up having to go back and use a different boat for the interior.”
The star continued: “And then at one point our lovely producer Louise was quietly panicking but not letting anyone know she is panicking and she was like ‘we’ve got to find another boat, we are going to have to build a set’
“They were talking about getting refrigerated because obviously there was fish. We did end up using another boat after he sold his boat so the magic of TV.”
Shetland comes to BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Wednesday November 5.