Thin blue lining
Dougie on farewell to TV copper and why he wants to play a bad guy now
Crime show star Dougie Henshall said filming his last series of Shetland was an emotional rollercoaster.
And he revealed he will never be able to bring himself to wear a pea coat again.
The actor said hanging up DI
Jimmy Perez’s iconic jacket after nearly a decade was extremely tough and admitted he is going to miss the character who has become like an old friend.
Dougie, 56, revealed although he couldn’t bear to keep the coat, he did take some souvenirs from set including the police station incident board and a painting by a Shetland artist.
The dad of one makes his f inal appearance as the world-weary island detective in season seven, which starts on BBC1 at 9pm on Wednesday.
He said: “DI Jimmy Perez is one of my favourite characters and it’s been a real privilege to play him. We got very lucky with lots of things – I even got to dress him for a while, including choosing the pea coat which is now famous.
“I chose not to keep the coat, though – I kind of figure I can never wear a pea coat again.
“I did take a couple of key items from the set, including the incident board from the police station. I got it for my daughter.
“After all the gruesome things that have been up on that board over t he yea r s , I thought it was a bit of karma to have a chi ld drawing p i c tu re s of f lowers and houses on it.
“I also took a painting from
Jimmy’s house which is by a
Shetland artartist and I’ll be hanging it somewhere spespecial in our home.”
DDougie, who has made Perez one of the momost popular crime-fighting cops on ththe box, admitted keeping his exit a secsecret was tough, as were filming his finfinal scenes.
The Primeval and Plain Sight star, who is married to Croatian playwright and screenwriter Tena Stivicic, said: “The last thing I wanted to do was give it away but it feels a bit real and weird now. Once this series is over on TV, it’s over – I don’t think it will feel real until that moment. “My last scenes were filmed in a car park in Ki lmacolm in Inverclyde, which was very odd. We’d tried to wrap three times but, because of Covid, it kept being put back. So it felt a little anti- climactic in the end.”
Although he is going to miss his character, the cast and the show, Dougie has no regrets about quitting and said it was time for him to go and perhaps play the baddie for a change.
The actor, who l ives in Glasgow’s west end with Tena and daughter Anja Grace, five, said: “Saying goodbye to Jimmy after 10 years was always going to be sad but it will be nice to play somebody who isn’t so irredeemably good as Perez. I’ll miss him as a person I crawl into every now and again because I liked him, he’s a nice man. I’d love to play a baddie again, that would be fun.”
He added: “My final series has a great story at its heart and it’s very much the Shetland the audience know and love. I hope people have enjoyed watching Perez over the years as much as I’ve enjoyed playing him. I’m going to miss Jimmy.” Last year, a Hollywood- style plaque honouring Dougie was installed outside the TV detective’s f ictional home in Lerwick.
But the local council said it would move it to another location used in the show as the real home-owners hadn’t been asked.
Saying to goodbye after Jimmy s is 10 year going always to be sad