Shetland crime drama set to return to screens next month

28 October 2026 09:33

Two smiling women pose in a room with blue walls and framed paintings, holding a black-and-white film clapperboard labelled "Shetland" for

Ashley Jensen and Alison O’Donnell pictured ahead of filming for series 11. Photo: BBC/Silverprint Films

THE NEW series of the Shetland crime drama is set to hit TV screens next month.

Series 11 will begin on BBC One on Thursday 12 November at 9pm.

The six-part series will be the last time Alison O’Donnell will play the role of DI Alison ‘Tosh’ McIntosh, who has featured since the show began.

Ashley Jensen is returning in her role as DI Ruth Calder, with the likes of Steven Robertson (DC Sandy Wilson) and Lewis Howden (Sergeant Billy McCabe) also back in action.

The guest cast features names like Gregor Fisher, Christine Bottomley and Gavin Mitchell.

Originally based on award-winning novels by crime writer Ann Cleeves, the forthcoming new series centres around “an historic murder which will forever change the lives of all those connected in the present day”.

The BBC said when a car is pulled from the water, a “grim discovery is made – crammed in the boot are the decomposed, skeletal remains of an unknown male”.