4 hours ago
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October 15, 2025 — 5:00am
There’s a note of urgency in the woman’s voice that makes those sitting near her in the cafe prick up their ears. “Just last week, there was a murder right on our doorstep,” she tells me. “Fancy! We were thrilled.”
In Scotland’s Shetland Islands, the archipelago that makes up the most northerly part of Britain, violent crime is nothing new. In fact, the 967 square kilometre scraps of land with a population of just 18,700 have become pretty much, per capita, the murder capital of the world.
On-screen, that is. As the wild, windswept and lonely setting for BBC police drama Shetland, it’s a dangerous place of killings, disappearances, drug deals, incest, family feuds and pagan rites.
“But it’s been excellent,” the woman says over bowls of steaming Scottish specialty Cullen skink, a delicious soup made of potatoes, smoked haddock and a great deal more cream than can possibly be healthy. “Now, everyone’s heard of us. And tourists … there’s so many.”
There certainly are. The number of tourists has shot up by 53 per cent since Shetland – now in its 10th series of production – started in 2013. Many come to this remote island, closer to Norway than to Edinburgh, for the moody, virtually tree-less expanses of heather and gorse they’ve seen on screen, the ocean crashing on rugged cliffs, secluded white beaches with rarely a footprint and the intensely colourful – and not at all dangerous – locals.
There are self-guided tours for the show’s fans, highlighting filming locations such as the characters’ houses in the capital Lerwick, the Town Hall, which doubles as the police station and the South Mainland beaches, the scene of many a dastardly deed and romantic encounter.
Many locals have appeared on-screen as extras, and they have hired their homes out for scenes. They love the world’s exposure to the islands’ culture and way of life. “Although we didn’t like that storyline about the pagan rituals,” says my new friend. “That wasn’t right at all.”
The lure of set-jetters – tourists who visit screen locations – is remarkable considering how difficult it is to get there. I’m on a Holland America cruise ship sailing the Norwegian fjords as well as calling in at Shetland; non-cruise travellers have to catch the overnight ferry to Lerwick from Aberdeen or Kirkwall in the Orkneys, or fly from Scotland or, in summer, from Norway’s Bergen.
But it’s certainly worth the effort. The TV show is just one draw. The 5000 years of history, and nearly every place name on the island having Viking origins, is another. The islands are also rich with archaeological sites.
Ancient brochs (stone roundhouses) mark the landscape. Clickimin Broch, close to Lerwick, and on the little island of Mousa is the world’s best-preserved and most complete broch; it is shared with 12,000 tiny fluttering storm petrels who breed there. A colony of puffins cover the rocks at Sumburgh Head; orcas pass by in season; and there are plenty of native Shetland ponies, the smallest and most muscular working horse on Earth. St Ninian’s Isle is yet another fabulous sight, which can be accessed by foot over a sandy isthmus except when cut off by high tide in winter.
Lerwick itself is charming and strangely familiar, with cobblestoned laneways, old stone buildings, a fabulous museum and lots of textile and wool shops. A new attraction is a whisky tasting tour at the most northern distillery in the world, Lerwick Distillery. It was founded by born-and-bred Shetlanders Martin Watt and Calum Miller, with the help of master distiller, high-profile industry veteran Ian Millar, of Glenfiddich fame.
Right now, they’re putting their first single malt batches into barrels, where they’ll mature for six to 10 years, but visitors can get a taste of the future as they offer blends of existing scotches that will mimic the flavour of their final product.
“If you’re going to create a new range, then Ian is the man to do it,” says Jordan Thomason of Lerwick Distillery. “We’re creating a new region for whisky and the climate here is perfect for it.” And if the samples were anything to go by, it’s bound for great success.
And if you can get to Lerwick’s Fjara Cafe, don’t forget that delicious Cullen skink. Try to strike up conversation with a local there too, to hear what it’s like to live on such a far-flung outpost that the rest of the world feels they now know so well.
The Details
Cruise
Holland America’s seven-day Norwegian Fjords and Shetland cruise costs from $2929 a person twin share or from $3594 a person, which includes speciality dining, shore excursion credit, a beverage package and Wi-Fi. See hollandamerica.com
More
See shetland.org; scotland.com
The writer travelled as a guest of Holland America.
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