Alison O'Donnell has teased the plot of Shetland season 9, revealing that it's a hugely personal case for her character, DI Alison "Tosh" McIntosh.
Yes, Tosh is now a Detective Inspector and thus on the same level as her cop partner, DI Ruth Calder (Ashley Jensen). But, when the new series begins on Wednesday, November 6 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, Tosh finds herself in a troubling position when friend Annie Bett goes missing and Annie's estranged husband, Ian, becomes the prime suspect.
Alison explains: "Initially this isn't a police matter, it's just something that is happening in Tosh's private life. Her friend has requested they meet, she had something important she wanted to talk to Tosh about — on a professional level — but when Tosh arrives at the agreed place and time, her friend is not there.
"She is immediately concerned though initially unsure of how serious this is. But as time passes and Annie [played by Sarah MacGillivray] still isn't accounted for, when she's checked with Donnie [played by Angus Miller] and all of their friends and there's still no news, things begin to escalate. Calder encourages Tosh to trust her instincts and they begin to investigate."
Alison adds: "Tosh has an unshakeable integrity. She's always going to do the right thing by the investigation which may not always sit well with her friends. Everyone is feeling compromised, stressed and mistrustful and these friendships are going to be tested.
"In an investigation like this, every stone must be unturned and a lot of secrets are going to come out. But for Tosh, this collateral damage is unavoidable. She feels the discomfort of it but her primary goal always is to unearth the truth and get justice, however that may look."
Meanwhile, talking about Tosh's promotion, she says: "I think she's been on a journey with her confidence ever since we first met her with her braces and her bobble hat. For sure her confidence has increased pretty rapidly over the last couple of years as she has stepped into the breach following Perez's departure and discovered she was more capable than she perhaps first thought. She still has little moments of doubt, though, and I think that's important because the audience have watched her grow from rookie status to 'heid bummer' [the big boss] and it's both realistic and relatable that she would wobble from time to time. I think everyone has imposter syndrome, some people are just better at hiding it than others."
While waiting for the new series, we highly recommend watching her in Alison O'Donnell Remembers… Shetland which is available on BBC iPlayer. In the documentary, she shares some fascinating insights into how Shetland began and the friendship she developed with her co-star Douglas Henshall, who played Jimmy Perez.
Shetland returns for its 9th series on Wednesday, November 6 at 9 pm on BBC One.
