BBC Shetland’s Ashley Jensen reveals bizarre filming approach: ‘Didn’t want to find out!’

Shetland star Ashley Jensen has revealed the unusual way she got into character ahead of its hotly-anticipated return to the BBC this month.

Jensen replaced former series lead Douglas Henshall after he left the show in 2022.

The 55-year-old was speaking about reprising her role as DI Ruth Calder in her second time at the helm of the show.

She explained the new series of Shetland will be more complex than fans expect, as it jumps back and forth through time to cover a historical case.

“There are so many different strands to the story and quite a lot of them are linked. It’s a very complex web this series,” Jensen explained.

The depth of the plot was such that it prompted the Extras star to approach playing her character in a whole new way.

Jensen revealed she “decided that I wasn’t going to find out who the murderer was” to better inhabit the character.

Speaking to the BBC, she explained that the process helped her feel “like I was really in Calder’s shoes.”

The Shetland star’s approach meant she was “looking at people through the character’s eyes” even when off-camera.

“I would leave a scene and quickly look back around again, just to see if somebody was doing something they shouldn’t have been behind the coppers’ backs after we’d gone!” Jensen explained.

However, seeing if she could “solve the puzzle and ultimately, the crime” along with her character did pose some challenges.

While appearing on the BBC’s One Show, Jensen admitted the approach left her exhausted when she arrived on set each morning.

“I kept waking up in the middle of the night going, ‘why was she having a conversation with her? What was that argument about? We need her in again,’” she laughed.

Jensen also detailed how she was overjoyed to return to Shetland, especially to be back on “otherworldly” island which she described as “the real star of the show”.

She added: “Shetland kind of envelops you. It’s like nowhere I’ve ever been before. It’s a landscape that’s arresting and breathtaking… It’s just a real privilege to be able to go back there.”

The 55-year-old explained it was fortunate she fell so in love with the island, as she revealed actors were barred from leaving during filming.

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“You’re genuinely not allowed off the isles in case the weather turns, and you can’t get back which would obviously mess up filming,” she explained.

“There’s very much a feeling of bonding and camaraderie because we’re all away from home. We’re all in the same boat, it’s like being in regional theatre in the 1950s or something,” she concluded.

Jensen will return to the crime drama alongside series stalwart Alison O’Donnell who’ll reprise the role of DI Alison ‘Tosh’ McIntosh.

Together, they’ll have to solve a new crime that has gripped the Scottish island while new faces add fresh layers to their latest mystery.