Arts / Cast and crew to be tested for Covid when crime drama resumes filming in April
FILMING of the next series of the Shetland crime drama is set to begin in the isles in April.
Producer Louise Say said that everyone working on the production will be tested for coronavirus before coming to Shetland.
Series six and seven of the popular series have been commissioned, although their broadcast dates are yet to be confirmed.
Both series will be filmed in 2021, with three shoots planned in Shetland this year.
Filming was due to start last year but it was postponed due to the pandemic.
Say told BBC Radio Shetland that the production will work under strict guidelines.
Testing of cast and crew will take place before arrival, and during the shoots.
Say said that the production’s protocols have been seen by NHS Shetland and Shetland Islands Council.
“When we come to Shetland to film in April, we will test all our cast and crew before we leave the mainland,” she said.
“In our travels to Shetland we will be wearing PPE, we will be hand sanitising. Once we arrive in Shetland there will be regular testing again throughout the whole shoot.”
The producer added that testing is only one part, with social distancing “extremely important to us”.
“The Scottish Government say that the film and television business is permitted,” Say added.
“We are under very strict guidelines, both from Scottish Government and from industry guidelines written by the BBC, ITV, the British Film Commission.
“Those guidelines really make us operate under a very different way, with very comprehensive protocols that protect the cast, the crew and the local population of Shetland from the spread of the virus.”
Say said that the crew “deeply respects” the bond the production has with the local community in Shetland.
She added that the plot line of series six of the crime drama will be “intriguing and emotionally intoxicating”.
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