BBC Shetland star reveals major scene disrupted as filming forced to halt

Shetland star Ashley Jensen has offered fans a sneak peek into the behind-the-scenes drama of filming the series, revealing a moment when producers were left in a 'panic' after a crucial scene was interrupted.

The 56-year-old Scottish actress, who gained fame in the successful US series Ugly Betty, joined the BBC crime drama as DI Ruth Calder back in 2023.

She took over as the main character of the show, succeeding DI Jimmy Perez. The much-loved series is due to return to our television screens for its tenth season in just a few days.

Last month, the BBC teased what's to come, showing DI Ruth and DS Lorna Tosh McIntosh (played by Alison O'Donnell) being called to a remote village following the eerie murder of an elderly woman.

Ben didn't hesitate and asked: "Just explain a little bit on what Calder is facing in this series?"

Ashley explained: "She's had a tip off from an informant and she goes to this fishing boat and she thinks she is going to find a lot of drugs. It involved sifting through a lot of fish and there were none, just a lot of fish."

The actress then shared how they almost didn't manage to complete the pivotal scene due to a significant disruption.

She elaborated: "We shot the first scene and then we got wind that the fisherman was going to sell his boat and we were like 'we've still got scenes to do with the boat' it let us know that life goes on."

"Despite the fact we are making a BBC One prime time TV show, he was like, 'Well, I've got a buyer for my boat'. We ended up having to go back and use a different boat for the interior."

The star went on: "And then at one point our lovely producer Louise was quietly panicking but not letting anyone know she is panicking and she was like, 'We've got to find another boat, we are going to have to build a set.'

"They were talking about getting refrigerated because obviously there was fish. We did end up using another boat after he sold his boat so the magic of TV."

Shetland comes to BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Wednesday November 5.