Shetland’s huge finale
Douglas Henshall promises Shetland’s finale will answer all our burning questions – and offers his verdict on the prime murder suspects…
last one
The sixth and final episode of Shetland brings the series to a close this week, and we want answers!
The drama started with ex-con Thomas Malone acquitted for the murder of teenager Lizzie Kilmuir in 1993. Against his better judgement, reviled
Thomas returned to Shetland and shortly afterwards journalist Sally Mccoll was murdered in a similar way to Lizzie…
Since then, we’ve had twists and turns, violent attacks and all manner of accusations. And all kinds of fan theories online, but this week we finally find out who killed them – and why.
Here, in an exclusive interview, Douglas, who plays charismatic, straight-talking DI Jimmy Perez, reveals who’s in the frame for murder, and walks us through the big events in this week’s finale… so, Douglas tell us all about the final episode… All the strands that have been coming together finally get tied up. But, it doesn’t end up the way you
think it’s going to…
This week there is a big revelation about Duncan. How does perez’s stepdaughter, Cassie, react to this discovery about her dad?
It’s a real kick in the teeth for Cassie, just as her and Duncan are getting on a bit better. It’s also tense for Perez. There’s so much invested in these two guys and their relationship with Cassie.
It’s such an emotional punch when this story comes to a head. There’s big drama too when Thomas Malone takes to the High street with a shotgun…
Thomas has been through so much to clear his name. And he feels he’s the person who gets screwed over every which way possible…
with several possible outcomes, was it complicated to film?
After so many twists and turns there’s a lot of information we need to get across to viewers, and I think we manage to do that in a way that works really well. Viewers won’t be cheated!
will the identity of the killer, or killers, of lizzie and sally come as a shock to us?
The great thing about the finale is, while people are guilty of various things, you can almost understand their point of view. Nobody seems to be an out-and-out baddie. I quite like that. I’m expecting a big response to this episode!
we’ve had amazing cliffhangers this series. any favourites?
The storyline with Duncan is the one I feel is most powerful. I’m also pleased the ferry chase sequence with Lars in episode five worked out well. We were really up against it with time when we filmed that, as we were on the actual ferry and had to get off when it needed to go!
author ann Cleeves said she’s considering killing perez off in her books. would that be the end of Shetland?
It wouldn’t make any difference to our show because they’re separate entities now. Ann’s been incredibly generous and supportive of Shetland from the beginning. She invented these characters but isn’t involved in what we do any more. It’s a big deal for an author to kill off a famous character. But if you feel like you’ve come to a natural end with them, maybe it’s for the best.
Have you given any thought to how you’d like perez to die?
Yes! I’d like to see him die in one of two ways. I’d either like him to die of a broken heart. Or, in an absurd way, like a flowerpot falling on his head from a great height!
That said, are you interested in filming another series?
Yes, with all the usual caveats. If we can come up with something interesting and don’t repeat ourselves, definitely. I think we’ve really found our feet with Shetland now. It started out looking like nothing. Since we did the pilot [in 2013] we’ve really built it up from the ground. A lot of the cast and crew have been with the show since the beginning. It can be a tough shoot but everyone’s fantastic. I’m very proud of it.
It doesn’t end up the way you think it’s going to…
douglas henshall