Shetland’s back...

[Patienceisvirtuous]

...tomorrow and I’m excited!! Anyone else?

Get on my screen Jimmy Perez!

It looks great from the trailer too...

Slightly disappointed with this one

Yes this series on the whole has been a bit weak.

A bit weak yes but the line about watching Duncan live his life being like watching Scotland try to qualify for the world cup was the best thing ever.

Very true Garth! I like that they’re almost like an old married couple now. You don’t see those kinds of relationships on tv.

Argh, just caught up with last episode. So frustrating - that’s bad writing. You can’t have a minor character end up being the baddie! There was no way for us to work that out. Things like that can’t come as a surprise to viewers! Clues should have been seeded through the series.

It’s almost as if the writer thought, ‘Argh! Who’s the evil mastermind behind this, so terrifying that he made the fishing boat owner kill himself with a pen? Ah yes, it’s Chris, who we know nothing about and who isn’t scary at all.’ Sigh.

Lots of unanswered questions. Oh well. Leaves the door open for another series...

‘Argh! Who’s the evil mastermind behind this, so terrifying that he made the fishing boat owner kill himself with a pen? Ah yes, it’s Chris, who we know nothing about and who isn’t scary at all.’ Sigh.

I know!!

I think this storyline was always going to leave a lot of loose ends. Even in large police forces when it comes to drugs and people trafficking its far more likely that the police would end up charging those at the bottom of the hierarchy.

I've told the BBC how much I enjoyed the programme and that loyal viewers deserve more so we can find out if Annie was involved.

Hmm, I dunno, Disfor, just came across as lazy writing to me. Shame.

There was a big hoo-ha about it being all too difficult and dangerous for Perez to take on, and people-smuggling gang tentacles reaching everywhere, in the end Chris was the crim??

What's absolutely certain is that Sandy is bloody useless!

I guess we're meant to think Alice told Chris...

I think so too. So either she's a bit forgetful/careless and just told him without thinking ,then forgot, or she lied to Jimmy (I prefer the latter explanation in terms of drama).

It was a bit of a let-down, wasn't it? Although I do agree with Disfor that the police very often end up only being able to charge those at the bottom of the hierarchy. Jimmy said something along those lines in this last episode.

I think it was some of the shadowy people working for the higher-ups who were threatening Perez's daughter.

I don't know how the bodies on the beach fit in plotwise. Were they just there to traumatise Duncan and act as his last straw to make him want to leave?

I thought the young girl killing the Hayeses was a bit rushed and somewhat unlikely. Also, Jimmy said to Jamie 'everyone loved your mum' but when he went to talk to her in an early episode she wasn't presented as that nice; and I don't recall any discussion about how popular she was, just that she knew most people.

I must say I preferred the early series when the crimes were smaller-scale and more 'local'. I don't really see the point of it being set in such a singular place if they just keep going to Glasgow

What's absolutely certain is that Sandy is bloody useless!

Yes! He never does any actual policing, and the one time he is allowed to do something, he gives the suspect a lethal weapon!

The guy with the beard who answers the phone is also a deadweight. Surely that's not a full time job??

Yet whenever they need extra police, there they all are!! No need for them to be flown in from the mainland... Hmm.

Alice was v annoying to watch, only one facial expression to convey love, distress, anger, whatever. No chemistry between them either. The romance seemed pointless, it added nothing to the plot.

I’m very glad Donnie turned out to be a good egg - Tosh deserves something good to happen.

Most work places have a Sandy - that person who’s constantly messing up. Ours even has a very similar name. The cop shop is obviously very different from your average hospital, though, as no-one gives a pen away in the NHS - they’re like gold dust!!

Donnie is a bit dim though, isn't he? I think Tosh deserves someone funnier and brighter.

Also, were they meant to have shagged in that scene in (I think) the penultimate episode where it was 'the morning after' and he was making breakfast? Because in a later scene they met up in the pub and did a stilted is-it-cheek-or-is-it-lips kiss and she said 'That was awkward' or similar, which seemed a bit odd if they'd already shagged for the first time at that point.

It was a weak series, however I still really enjoyed it. I love the Jimmy Duncan relationship and all the other characters. Alice made me cringe, the writing of that potential romance was just wrong. Jimmy was better suited to the Glaswegian detective he met a few episodes in.
I hope Ann writes another season, it's usually great crime viewing with just perfect scenery.

I kind of thought this series and maybe the last one wasn't written by the books' author. The credits say something like 'based on characters created by...', which usually means NOT based on the books or written by the author.

Certainly these past two series have felt a bit further away from the spirit of the earlier ones, to me.

I think she's said she isn't writing any more Shetland books, although I don't know what that means for the TV show. I'm writing to the Beeb to say I'd like more anyway (even though I moan about it, I still like watching it!)

The last two series have had different writers to the ones before I think. One of the writers of the series before that also wrote The Level , which was a brilliant and gripping crime drama, i expected a second series of that but one hasn’t appeared.

I don't think we need to worry if Ann doesn't write any more books.
If the Beeb think there's mileage in it they'll just get a different writer.
It's like prime suspect, only 2 of the 7 sesasons were written by Lynda La Plante.

I'm watching this on iPlayer so trying to skim comments without reading too many spoilers but... who wrote this series?! The dialogue in particular has been so stilted: DH and I keep turning to each other in disbelief. Apart from the Jimmy/Duncan scenes, tt's really not a patch on previous, excellent series.

Still, Volvo are certainly getting their money's worth from the loaner. Every time someone makes a glum reference to illegal workers being trafficked for nail bars and car washes, Jimmy's immaculate Volvo rolls into the next shot, raindrops beading off its freshly waxed bonnet.

Volvo must be so happy with crime dramas, Wallander was awash with trusty volvos.

All the best people drive Volvos.

Midsomer Murders is all Volvos too, isn't it?

(I shouldn't admit to knowing that, really. I need to get out more and stop watching people getting killed in absurd manners on tv so much!)

You can rely on a Volvo. Christine the Car That Kills was definitely not a Volvo.

I thought this series was very poor and only stuck with it to finally find out whodunnit. Even now, I'm still confused.
I didn't like Alice at all and Zeze's mum was a nightmare.
It was so bloody slow.