Community / Shetland TV show raises thousands for charity after sea farms filming
A SEAFOOD factory was turned into a TV crime scene for the day this summer – raising thousands of pounds for charity in the process.
Scottish Sea Farms’ recently upgraded processing hub at Gremista, Lerwick became the scene of a crime in the latest series of the BBC television drama Shetland.
The facility appeared in episode four of series 10 of Shetland, which aired recently, with some staff members even helping the crew on the day.
Scottish Sea Farms said they had been approached by BBC producers to ask if they could use the factory to film a scene located in a fish processing plant.
And to thank the company for its collaboration, the BBC donated £5,000.
That money has since been shared between eight local charities, which were selected by Scottish Sea Farms’ team in Shetland.
The company’s Shetland processing operations supervisor Steven Woods oversaw filming, which took place on 21 June 2025, describing it as “orchestrated chaos”.
“There were people everywhere, with a few of our 80-strong processing team hired as extras, along with local volunteers,” he said.
“They gave me a radio and treated me like one of the crew, shouting every time the microphones picked up noises.
“Most of equipment in the factory is on 24/7 so it was a case of working out where the noise was coming from and what I had to switch off.”
Fellow operations supervisor Stephen Ferguson showed the producers around thepremises in the weeks before the shoot, and both he and Woods were delighted with how it looked in the final film.
“It’s only about two minutes’ footage in total, after about 12 hours of filming, but we’d be happy to do it again,” said Woods.
“It was an interesting insight into another world, and it delivered money for a number of good causes.”
The charities set to benefit from the filming are the Salvation Army, CLAN Cancer Support, Shetland Hyperbaric Chamber and Ability Shetland, all of which will receive £750.
Sandwick Boating and Sailing Club, The Bop Shop, Lerwick Boating Club and Shetland Pride will also receive £500.
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