
Scripted series · BBC One
Shetland
Murder is only a ferry ride away.
Who's in it
Cast
The principal ensemble across the run of the series.
The Nutevio profile
TV DNA
How Shetland actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.
Signature profile
Shetland reads strongest on Tension, Character Depth and Cliffhanger Intensity.
The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.
How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.
How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.
How hard it is to stop after one episode.
How much each hour depends on the one before it.
How much the series is designed to affect you.
Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.
The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.
How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.
The story
What it's about
Created from the novels by award winning crime writer Ann Cleeves, Shetland follows DI Jimmy Perez and his team as they investigate crime within the close knit island community. In this isolated and sometimes inhospitable environment, the team have to rely on a uniquely resourceful style of policing.
The run
Seasons
10 seasons · 56 episodes.

Season 0 · Complete
Specials
20241 episode

Season 1 · Complete
Series 1
20132 episodes
7.8IMDbWhen a young archaeologist discovers a set of human remains, the Shetland community is intrigued to know if it’s an ancient find or a contemporary mystery. And when an elderly woman is shot on her land in a tragic accident, Perez and his team find themselves at the centre of two feuding families whose envy, greed and bitterness has divided the surrounding community.
Best episode · S01E01 Episode 1

Season 2 · Complete
Series 2
20146 episodes
8.0IMDbThe team review a past crime to solve a murder, Perez investigates an old friend's death in a car accident and a scientist is killed at the Fair Isle bird observatory.
Best episode · S02E02 Raven Black - Part 2

Season 3 · Complete
Series 3
20166 episodes
7.8IMDbWhen a young man disappears on the Aberdeen to Shetland ferry crossing and a small boy ends up in intensive care, DI Jimmy Perez and his team investigate; becoming convinced the two events are connected.
Best episode · S03E01 Episode 1

Season 4 · Complete
Series 4
20186 episodes
7.1IMDbA convicted killer's return to Shetland after 23 years in jail coincides with the murder of a local journalist and Perez and his team must investigate both cases.
Best episode · S04E02 Episode 2

Season 5 · Complete
Series 5
20196 episodes
6.4IMDbA human hand washes up on a Shetland beach. A few hours later, more body parts are discovered in a hold-all that has been dumped at sea. The victim is identified as a young Nigerian man, spotted in Lerwick a few days before. In investigating his murder, DI Perez becomes involved in the search for a vulnerable young woman, leading him to uncover a complex network of human trafficking across Scotland’s remote rural communities.
Best episode · S05E06 Episode 6

Season 6 · Complete
Series 6
20216 episodes
7.0IMDbPerez and his team investigate the doorstep murder of a leading figure on Shetland.
Best episode · S06E06 Episode 6

Season 7 · Complete
Series 7
20226 episodes
4.4IMDbThe disappearance of a vulnerable young man draws Perez into the secret past of a family new to Shetland and reveals an unimaginable threat to his community.
Best episode · S07E04 Episode 4

Season 8 · Complete
Series 8
20236 episodes
5.1IMDbSeries 8 sees Met Police Detective Inspector Ruth Calder return to her native Shetland to retrieve the vulnerable witness to a gangland murder. Tosh must pause her investigation into a string of mysterious animal deaths to help Calder find the witness before it’s too late.
Best episode · S08E04 Episode 4

Season 9 · Complete
Series 9
20246 episodes
5.6IMDbWhen a woman goes missing with her nine-year-old son, Calder and Tosh set out on a case that blurs the line between the personal and professional.
Best episode · S09E01 Episode 1

Season 10 · Complete
Series 10
20256 episodes
5.5IMDbCalder and Tosh investigate the brutal killing of an elderly woman.
Where the series peaks
Best Episodes
The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.

S02E02
Raven Black - Part 2
Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez believes he and his team are finally closing in on the killer as they discover what 17-year-old Catherine Ross was hiding from everyone in the hours before her death.
- Directed by John McKay
- Written by Gaby Chiappe

S03E01
Episode 1
When a young man disappears on the Aberdeen to Shetland ferry crossing and a small boy ends up in intensive care, DI Jimmy Perez and his team investigate, becoming convinced the two events are connected.
- Directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan
- Written by Gaby Chiappe

S02E06
Blue Lightning - Part 2
Time is running out for Detective Inspector Perez as prime suspect Peter Latimer lies critically ill in hospital. Was the fire a drunken accident, or was Peter Latimer the second victim of a murderer still free on Fair Isle?
- Directed by Stewart Svaasand
- Written by Richard Davidson

S03E03
Episode 3
The murder investigation takes Perez and Tosh to Glasgow as they try to uncover the reasons behind Maguire's brutal death and his connection to Robbie Morton. But old ghosts return to haunt Perez as his enemies try to prevent him from getting to the truth.
- Directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan
- Written by Gaby Chiappe, Robert Murphy

S03E02
Episode 2
DI Jimmy Perez is convinced that Michael Maguire is somehow implicated in the death of Robbie Morton. But with the investigation seemingly under threat before it's even started, he faces an uphill battle to uncover the truth behind Maguire's silence.
- Directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan
- Written by Robert Murphy

S02E01
Raven Black - Part 1
Old wounds are painfully reopened for the shocked residents of Ravenswick, as Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez and his team look to a past crime to solve the present day murder of a young teenage girl.
- Directed by John McKay
- Written by Gaby Chiappe
Behind the series
Created by
Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.
- Photo unavailable
Ann Cleaves
Showrunner

Christopher Aird
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
Kate Bartlett
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
Denise Paul
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
Gaynor Holmes
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
Elaine Collins
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
Paul Logue
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
David Kane
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Richard Davidson
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Phil Mulryne
Writer

Ann Cleeves
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Gaby Chiappe
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Louise Ironside
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Robert Murphy
Writer
The craft
Key Crew
Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.
Executive production
- Christopher AirdExecutive Producer
- Kate BartlettExecutive Producer
- Denise PaulExecutive Producer
- Gaynor HolmesExecutive Producer
- Peter GallagherProducer
- Elaine CollinsExecutive Producer
Writing
- David KaneWriter
- Denise PaulWriter
- Richard DavidsonWriter
- Paul LogueWriter
- Phil MulryneWriter
- Ann CleevesWriter
Direction
- Giulia GandiniDirector
- John McKayDirector
- Siri RødnesDirector
- Ruth PaxtonDirector
- Andy NewberyDirector
- Peter HoarDirector
Cinematography
- Cinders ForshawDirector of Photography
- Jean-Philippe GossartDirector of Photography
- Gavin StruthersDirector of Photography
Music
- John LunnOriginal Music Composer
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
- Amazon VideoBuy
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- Google Play MoviesBuy
- Britbox Apple TV Channel Streaming
- Fandango At HomeBuy
- BritBoxStreaming
- BritBox Amazon ChannelStreaming
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