Douglas Henshall Joins Drama Series “The Darkness”
Scottish actor Douglas Henshall hasn’t been resting on his laurels since leaving “Shetland”. First there was Who Is Erin Carter, then Murder Is Easy.
Now Douglas Henshall has signed onto The Darkness. It is a series based on Icelandic author Ragnar Jónasson’s best-selling book series.
Henshall will join Golden Globe nominee Lena Olin and Endeavour star Jack Bannon in the six-part series.
The Darkness:
The Darkness is the first in a new atmospheric and complex thriller series from Ragnar Jónasson. She is the award-winning author of the internationally bestselling Ari Thor thrillers.
Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir investigates a shocking murder case while coming to terms with her own personal traumas. Faced with an impending early retirement and forced to take on a new partner, Hulda is determined to find the killer, even if it means putting her own life in danger, according to a plot description.
Shetland’s DI Jimmy Perez:
The Glasgow-born actor debuted the role of DI Perez on BBC One in 2013. It was the first TV adaptation of the award-winning novels by crime writer Ann Cleeves.
Scottish actor Douglas Henshall, 57, unexpectedly announced his departure from Shetland in June 2022. It was just one month before the seventh season finale aired in August 2022.
The Scottish actor said in a statement at the time: “After series five of Shetland, David Kane and I decided we wanted to do two more series to complete the story of Jimmy Perez.
“So series six and seven were commissioned together to give us time to wrap up Perez’s story to a satisfactory end.
“It’s been one of the privileges of my career to play Jimmy Perez for almost 10 years and to work with so many wonderful people both in front of and behind the camera, and also to spend so much time in Shetland.
“The Isles were so much a part of our show and of Perez himself. I’ll miss him and the place. I wish everyone involved much luck with whatever happens next. I’ll miss him as a person I crawl into every now and again because I liked him, he’s a nice man.”
Henshall was beloved by fans and there was much sadness and disappointment that he was leaving Shetland.
Ashley Jensen is now leading the cast of the popular BBC One crime drama Shetland.
The 53-year-old Scottish actress stars as Detective Inspector Ruth Calder. She is a native Shetlander who returns to the isles after 20 years working for the Met in London.
Her job in Shetland is to retrieve a vulnerable witness to a gangland murder.
Shetland Season 8 was available in November 2023.
Upon Leaving Shetland:
In his first role after Shetland, Henshall starred as villain Daniel Long in the Netflix thriller “Who is Eric Carter?”
The thriller followed the story of Erin Collantes, a British teacher living in Spain. Her seemingly ordinary life took a dramatic turn when she becomes involved in a supermarket robbery.
The first season of Who Is Erin Carter? consisted of seven episodes and premiered in August 2023.
Henshall said to Radio Times: “It’s very difficult to make conscious decisions about what you’re going to do when you’re a 57-year-old white man.
“There aren’t so many roles around for me anymore. I think that’s just a fact of getting older.”
Douglas Henshall unveiled a plaque in his name in November 2022 as a thanks from Shetland for the success of the popular BBC TV series.
It means that there’s a lot more work for Scottish actors. And there’s more money coming into the Shetland Islands due to the series.
CBS Studios:
CBS Studios is continuing its push into international drama.
The slate of international co-productions from CBS Studios also includes the likes of Colin From Accounts, Munich Games, Bestseller Boy and NCIS: Sydney.
This is in addition to Gold Diggers, which was the first co-production between CBS Studios and Stampede Ventures.
If there is any thought that a 57 yo Scottish actor isn’t appealing (sexy) enough to get good roles, Doug Henshall puts that nonsense to bed(so to speak).
I watched Shetland on Britbox on my Roku here in Belleville, Illinois, USA. Love it!
These are on my ‘to watch’ list. I am catching up on several shows I have missed….just now watching The Crown and find it to be a good show. Have a great rest of the week- Diana
Thank you Brenda and Ivy too for creating this. I became almost too attached to any police dramas from the UK and the original “The Killing” with subtitles since the pandemic. Shetland and Vera are gold in my book. Thank you for the updates on “Dougie” Henshall’s latest roles. 💕💕💕&Gratitude from Austin, TX, USA
From the other shows that you mentioned you like I think you would like “Who is Eric Carter?” also. It’s a bit different from other crime dramas but it has a twist in the plot that’s a bit out of the ordinary.
I’m glad he’s been able to find consistent work, despite his age. It’s hard when a character you really like leaves a show. So when you see them starring in a new show, you get all happy to see them again.
Henshall is right about shrinking roles for older actors and actresses, although older men still seem able to get more acting jobs than older women. There is less age discrimination against aging actresses, but it’s still out there. I pretty much stick to watching home improvement shows, movies that I know have happy endings, and the Die Hard movies, which I occasionally watch as a sort of catharsis. It’s amazing how good it makes me feel to see the character John McClane beat the bad guys every time. I watch the CBS series “The Equalizer” with Queen Latifa, for the same reason. I also watch Hell’s Kitchen and Master Chef when the new seasons come out. I probably spend more time watching YouTube channels than I do watching TV shows. Squirrels at the Window is one of my favorites 🙂
I spend quite a bit of time on YouTube myself. But I tend to watch more decorating shows.