Shetland: Douglas Henshall on being apart from family
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Shetland has been on screens for the best part of a decade after launching in 2013 with the drama series based on the novels by acclaimed British crime writer Ann Cleeves.
Although Shetland is adapted from Cleeves’ novels, the show is very different to the source material with the scriptwriters removing chunks from the books and cutting characters.
Scottish actor Douglas Henshall carried the show as Jimmy Perez, a detective inspector with the Scottish police.
Jimmy moved back to the island of Shetland after his wife Fran died several years earlier.
The single father was looking to build a better life for his step-daughter Cassie as they made a new life together.
Cassie later went on to university in Glasgow as Jimmy continued to solve cases on the island.
Jimmy was joined by ‘Tosh’ McIntosh (Alison O’Donnell) and Sandy Wilson (Steven Robertson) as he cracked cases.
Henshall previously told the BBC: “It’s interesting actually because when we did the pilot there were a lot of people on the island who had certain reservations, such as geographical reservations, things about accents and it was almost like they expected it was going to be a documentary.”
He went on to say: “I was thinking, ‘How is it going to be to go back to shoot series two?’ but the reaction to series one was fantastic because people had got that we weren’t trying to make fun of the people who live there or the islands in any way shape or form. We were actually trying to do something positive for the islands.”
The actor added: “The reaction has been fantastic because they loved the first series. It was a relief because I was thinking if they didn’t like the series I’m in trouble this time!”
The star recently confirmed he would be stepping down from the show after nearly a decade as Jimmy. As the character makes an exit, fans are curious about his origins.
Why does Jimmy Perez in Shetland have a Spanish name?
Cleeves first visited the Shetland islands over 40 years ago after dropping out of university and the author immediately fell in love with the area.
In an interview with North Link Ferries previously, author Cleeves explained how the character of Jimmy came about.
She said: “I wanted a central character who was a Shetlander but still felt like an outsider.
“So I made him a Fair Islander and gave him a Spanish name. There was a Spanish Armada ship – El Gran Grifon – wrecked off the island so it’s not completely improbable that one of his ancestors was a Spanish survivor.” So while Jimmy is Scottish, he has Spanish ancestry.
The El Gran Grifón sailed for England in 1558 and planned to invade, however, the ship and the rest of the Spanish fleet were seen off by Sir Francis Drake.
The vessel, along with other ships, were sent into the Irish Sea after encountering strong south-westerly winds with the fleet planning to return to Spain by going around the north of Scotland.
In doing so, they were also hoping to avoid Sir Francis’ ships but many of these ships ended up getting wrecked off the coasts of both Ireland and Scotland – including El Gran Grifon.
According to The Scotsman, most of the passengers escaped the shipwreck and made it to shore with various folk tales of their time on the Shetland islands. Sadly, 50 men didn’t make it and perished in the choppy waters.
Among the tales, some suggested they taught the islanders a knitting technique, while another said they killed livestock belonging to the locals in a bid to feed themselves.
The outlet goes on to say the Spaniards stayed for two months before leaving for first St Andrews in Fife and then Edinburgh before returning home to Spain.
Accounts suggest the soldiers and sailors “behaved like perfect gentlemen” with the island’s inhabitants likely to provide shelter and hospitality to these visitors.
Back in 1984, a group from Spain planted an iron cross in the island’s local cemetery to commemorate the lives of the dead soldiers and sailors.
Shetland concludes on BBC One next Wednesday at 9pm
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