MURDER MYSTERIES IN THE SCOTTISH ISLES

The latest crime series to hit the streamer is SHETLAND SEASON 1-4. The series is based on the novels by Ann Cleeves and is set against the backdrop of the beautiful, hauntingly barren Shetland Islands in Scotland.

It follows Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez (DOUGLAS HENSHALL) as he returns home to raise his stepdaughter in a safe and peaceful community.

He soon finds himself investigating mysterious murders, including the killing of a teenage girl with a dark secret, the death of a journalist friend who might’ve uncovered a story that cost him his life, and the murder of a scientist on the island of Fair Isle.

In season 2, Succession’s BRIAN COX plays Magnus Bain, a recluse who becomes a murder suspect when a body is found near his home.

Tell us about your character Magnus. He’s a simple man, a man who’s lived by simple means and cut himself off from the rest of the world. It’s a life he’s chosen as he’s just not sociable. Up until now, he’s been protected by his own self-imposed isolation. When he becomes a suspect, a tragedy that happened in his life many years ago comes back to haunt him.

What do you make of the witch-hunt that surrounds him? It’s the whole thing about hysteria. Magnus is very much the victim of a community reacting to a terrible situation, and because Magnus is odd he catches people’s eye.

He’s pretty isolated so he’s a natural fall-guy for the vigilante mentality. We know so much these days but sometimes too much knowledge makes people ignorant.

What attracted you to Shetland? Work is always a good excuse for me to meet some really tremendous people. It was an opportunity for me to come back home [he’s Scottish], but above all else it was an opportunity to visit Shetland, which I’d always wanted to do. It was kind of a working holiday for me.

Any memorable experiences? It was just the whole experience of being there and that fantastic location at Magnus’ cottage – it was just idyllic. And I took my young son [Torin, then 9] out to the gannet colony and we had a great time out there.

The colony is absolutely amazing. We went out in a boat and we also did the whole underwater thing, which was just incredible.