After nearly a decade in the role, actor Douglas Henshall has announced that season seven of BBC’s gritty detective drama, Shetland, will be his last.

Henshall has played DI Jimmy Perez since 2013 in the first TV adaptation of the novels by crime writer Ann Cleeves, the story-telling mastermind behind The Long Call and Vera.

In the brand new trailer for his final series, which explores the dark side of the beautiful Scottish isle, teases a frantic hunt as a vulnerable young man goes missing. 

A body struggling in water. A hand through the window of a boat. Secretive phone calls and hideouts in the woods. As DI Perez starts to unravel the events that led up to his disappearance, the family of the young man are forced to confront what really happened, and who was involved.

Though Henshall has decided to pursue other acting opportunities, the popular crime drama will indeed return for an eighth series in 2023, with a new lead to be announced in due course.

Speaking to the BBC, Henshall said he would miss DI Perez and Shetland.

“It’s been one of the privileges of my career to play Jimmy Perez for almost 10 years and to work with so many wonderful people both in front of and behind the camera, and also to spend so much time in Shetland,” he told them in an interview.

“The isles were so much a part of our show and of Perez himself. I’ll miss him and the place.”

Shetland series 7 returns to BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC Scotland on Wednesday 10 August.

Images: BBC