On the remote, windswept islands of Shetland, DI Jimmy Pérez — and later DI Ruth Calder — investigate crimes that ripple through tight-knit island communities where everyone knows everyone. Adapted from Ann Cleeves' novels, it's brooding, beautifully shot, and powered by the kind of slow Nordic-noir tension that gets under your skin. The landscape is practically a character in itself. Shetland is available on BritBox; compare BritBox and Acorn TV if you're deciding between the two.
About the Show
Ann Cleeves' Shetland Novels
Ann Cleeves' novels inspired Shetland, though the show has diverged enough from the books over ten series that the credits now read simply "inspired by" rather than "based on."
Douglas Henshall & Ashley Jensen
Douglas Henshall played DI Jimmy Perez for the first seven series, winning a BAFTA Scotland for Best Actor along the way, before Ashley Jensen took over as DI Ruth Calder — a native Shetlander returning from twenty years with the Met in London — for series eight onward. Cleeves has said she now watches the show as an ordinary viewer rather than a creative collaborator, and enjoys the current pairing of Jensen and Alison O'Donnell.
Where to watch in the US
BritBox
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Watch the Trailer
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