Shetland crime drama pulls in more than seven million viewers an episode

THE NEW Shetland series averaged more than seven million viewers an episode, new figures show.

The BBC said series eight – the first to feature Ashley Jensen as new lead character DI Ruth Calder – had been averaging around 5.6 million TV viewers and more than two million iPlayer downloads.

The series came to its finale on Wednesday night.

Jensen took on the lead role after the departure of Douglas Henshall as DI Jimmy Perez.

It also saw the return of actors such as Alison O’Donnell and Steven Robertson.

Read Tom Morton’s take on the series as final episode aired here. Anyone who has not yet watched the final episode may want to avert their eyes, however, as there may be spoilers.