Shetland season 7 trailer for DI Jimmy Perez final release

The BBC has unveiled a first trailer for the new season of Shetland.

The final set of episodes is set to be Douglas Henshall’s last outing as DI Jimmy Perez, with the actor confirming his decision to leave the show earlier this week.

You can watch the dramatic trailer for Shetland season 7 – which sees DI Perez and his team searching for a missing person – below:

Addressing his character’s impending on-screen departure, Henshall – who has run the show since 2013 – said: “After series 5 of Shetland, [series writer] David Kane and I decided to do two more series to complete the Jimmy Perez story. Series 6 and 7 were therefore ordered together to give us time to wrap up Perez’s story in a satisfying way.

“It has been one of the privileges of my career to play Jimmy Perez for almost 10 years and to work with so many great people in front of and behind the camera, and also to spend so much time in Shetland.”

In a subsequent Twitter post, Henshall thanked fans for their support and hinted that he would reveal his reasons for leaving Shetland in the future, writing: “For those interested, I will explain the reasons for my leaving later.”

Shetland also stars Alison O’Donnell (as Alison “Tosh” McIntosh), Steven Roberton (as Sandy Wilson) and Mark Bonnar (as Duncan Hunter) and is based on a series of novels by author Ann Cleeves, which has told RadioTimes.com in a statement: “It is sad that Dougie is no longer playing Jimmy Perez; he was perfect in the role. But I am delighted that the BBC wants to continue filming in these beautiful islands.

“It will be exciting to see what happens next.”

Shetland will return for an eighth season in 2023, with a new lead actor, although casting details have yet to be announced.

BBC Drama executive producer Gaynor Holmes said: “We’re going to miss [Douglas Henshall] enormously but he is leaving the show in poor health and we are extremely excited about the plans we have to bring more of this much-loved drama to a very wide audience.”

Shetland Season 7 begins August 2022 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Ann Cleeves’ Shetland novels are available to buy now.

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