Shetland: Perez is gone and there's a new sheriff in town

First, would her DI Ruth Calder wear a bobble hat? Henshall’s DI Jimmy Perez famously made it through nine years on the islands without a hat, bobble or otherwise, scarf, and gloves.

Second, how dare the makers bring in a new DI instead of promoting fan favourite Tosh McIntosh (Alison O’Donnell) to the top job?

I can confirm that Calder is no stranger to the cashmere rails in M&S but prefers a trendy beanie to a bobble hat. That’s what living too long in London will do for a gal.

Calder, a Met detective, has been sent to Shetland to find a witness to a gangland shooting.

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Shetland, it turns out, is where Calder was born and brought up. But she cannot stand the place, leaving two days after her 18th birthday and refusing to return, not even for her father’s funeral. Or the wedding of her brother, a church minister like his dad.

Hence the permanent scowl Calder wears. Not even the offer of a cuppa and one of Sergeant Billy’s homemade scones can turn that frown upside down.

Calder is not the only homecoming queen. The fleeing witness, Ellen (Maisie Norma Seaton) is also a Shetlander. She hails from a local crime clan led by Grace Bain (Phyllis Logan). Logan played the same role in the recent Guilt. Scots actresses of a certain age never retire, they just become gangsters.

Grace knows Calder of old (“that tramp”) and doesn’t trust her to bring granddaughter Ellen back, especially now two hitmen from London are on the island, one of whom draws attention to himself by stealing a book from a gift shop. His partner pays up to keep the shopkeeper quiet. “£18.99, for a book?” he asks, stunned. Knows his way around a semi-automatic, but clearly not au fait with country prices.

Tosh puts her current case aside - sheep, throats cut, mysterious symbol daubed on bodies, that old chestnut - to babysit Calder. Tosh and Calder get on like Tom and Jerry, if Tom and Jerry were two vaguely narked women in waterproof jackets. So much for any hopes of the pair becoming a Caledonian Cagney and Lacey.

Another face from Guilt turns up - Jamie Sives - playing Cal, an old flame of Calder’s who is surprised to learn she’s now a copper. “F***! OFF!” he bellows on hearing the news.

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The language on Shetland has been getting fruitier for a few series now, but new lead writer Paul Logue has decided to blow the effing doors off. While not exactly Succession levels of swearing, it ain’t Juliet Bravo either. There’s also a sharper edge to the violence and more willingness to show it.

You have to wonder if fans will mind this slight “sexing up” of Shetland, and indeed if they will take to Jensen as Henshall’s replacement. Overall the programme has a colder tone, no weather-related pun intended. We don’t even see Tosh’s daughter or partner in the first episode, it’s strictly crime business all the way. And all of this before a truly shocking ending.

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This Shetland is taking no prisoners, or not yet anyway. The old Shetland was hardly Hamish Macbeth, but the warmth of the big brother, wee sister relationship between Tosh and Perez could always be relied upon to pull a story back from some dark places indeed.

On the upside, this is a cast and crew that has seven hit series to their name, and Jensen, taking on her first lead role in a drama, has long deserved this chance to show what she can do. To many she already proved herself, and then some, with her Bafta Scotland-nominated performance in Mayflies, Peter Mackie Burns and Andrea Gibb’s exquisite adaptation of Andrew OHagan’s novel.

If Tosh is prepared to put up with gloomy Calder, the least we can do is keep her company. In the meantime, perhaps another batch of Billy’s scones might sweeten the mix. Don’t stint on the raisins, Sarge.

Shetland. Available to watch on BBC1 and iPlayer