Island life

The murder rate on Shetland is on the rise again as Alison O’donnell returns as detective Alison Mcintosh in the hit BBC crime drama. The actor talks to Janet Christie about the new season, the challenge of filming while pregnant and how finding happiness

Alison O’donnell talks to Janet Christie about the return of hit BBC crime drama Shetland

There’s always been a nod to Nordic Noir about Shetland, BBC Scotland’s hit crime series. There are the long dark winter nights, endless summer days and a body count that you’d think would scare off the tourists, but actually has them flocking in droves. But in season four, kicking off this week, the Norse influence is even greater with a plot twist that sees the Shetland constabulary following a lead to Bergen.

“Yes, the Scandi Noir looms ever larger this time,” says Alison O’donnell, aka Detective Sergeant Alison Mcintosh or ‘Tosh’, “particularly because we actually go to Norway this time. It was amazing. Bergen is beautiful... different to Shetland in that there are lots of trees, but it feels like it’s from the same palette and has a similar climate – we do have lots in common.

“And because we were working with Scandinavian actors, it allowed me to pretend I was in The Bridge while we were filming.”

Was she wearing a long leather coat like Malmö County Police’s Saga Norén? “In my mind I was!” O’donnell had arrived at our rendezvous of the Vic cafe at The Glasgow School of Art on a sparklingly cold Glasgow day, unmistakably Tosh, yet more poised and polished and with a surprise worthy of a Shetland plot twist. There’s been a…. birth. O’donnell and her partner, the Ayrshire playwright DC Jackson, became parents after filming for this series ended and brought their three-month-old baby along. O’donnell unwraps the bundle, all downy dark hair and plump cheeks. “Yes,” she quips, “in fact her head is 80 per cent cheek.”

It’s a relief to see Tosh return to the Scottish Bafta-winning crime series, based on the Ann Cleeves novels, after last season ended with her requesting a transfer, shattered by a storyline that saw her raped and struggling to come to terms with the aftermath. However, she is back on the case with Douglas Henshall, Steven Robertson, Mark Bonnar and Julie Graham and some new faces like Stephen Walters (The Accused), Doctor Who’s Neve Mcintosh and Gangs of New York’s Sean Mcginley. In the latest six-part series Shetlander Thomas Malone has his murder conviction overturned after 23 years in jail and returns to fall under suspicion again when there’s a similar murder.

“This is the best series yet!” she says, relishing the one story over several episodes format that allows more space for character and plot development. As for the show’s popularity, “It’s also a lot to do with how beautiful it is,” she says.

“Filming this time we were very aware of how many people were there as a result of the show. I was in the hotel breakfast room one morning and there was a Swedish couple and an Australian couple talking about it and I was sitting there with my glasses on and no make-up, thinking they’re never going to spot me, thank goodness. So, it’s the scenery definitely, but also good stories and characters.”

She pauses then sums up Henshall’s central role. “And Perez has such integrity, he just wants people to do the right thing, He Just. Wants. People. To. Be. Honest. He’s a sort of guiding light and I think people respond to that.”

So why does Tosh turn down a transfer and stay in Shetland after all?