Vincent Regan Talks The New Series Of BBC’s Shetland

A Born And Bred Shetlander

BBC’s Shetland returns for a new series on 6 November and here’s one of its stars Vincent Regan talking about it…

Upstanding, moral and stoic, John Harris is an old school Shetlander who has been recently widowed. Hardworking, dependable and shrewd, John runs a local mussel farm along with his sons, Fergus and Patrick. However, whilst he holds his youngest son, Fergus, in high regard, he despairs of Patrick, who he thinks is erratic and hot-headed. Father and son clash constantly – Patrick is the only person who can make John lose his cool. A calming influence on John’s life has been his friendship with his accountant, Annie Bett. Most recently, John was glad to have Annie and her young son, Noah, move into his home following her recent marital split. He never liked Annie’s husband Ian – he was too showy for the humble John. Whilst John is respected, he’s not without his faults, not least the fact that he’s is too proud and rarely compromises.

Welcome to Shetland! What drew you to the role of John Harris?

I’d seen some of Shetland before and I was a big fan. When I read the scripts they were really well written and, also, I had never been to the Shetland Islands so it felt like the perfect opportunity to visit and be part of this show. Strangely, I thought Shetland was just off the coast of Scotland – how wrong was I? It’s midway between Norway and Scotland and completely unique.

Can you tell us about your character?

Well John is born and bred on the Shetland Isles. He’s an incredibly hard worker – his mussel farming business means so much to him and he wants to pass it on to his sons, Patrick [Ross Anderson] and Fergus [Macleod Stephen], one day.

The thing about the Shetland Isles is they are very, very beautiful but incredibly remote so I’d imagine that John can feel quite isolated. When his late wife was alive, John probably had the perfect life with her and his two sons and he didn’t want for anything else. He loved his wife dearly.

With the death of his wife, loneliness has crept in and there’s a generational lack of communication between John and his sons. So, when an opportunity to help Annie and Noah Bett arose and they came into his life, he discovered that they also helped him through his loneliness and grief.

How is John connected to the missing woman, Annie, and her son, Noah?

Annie and Noah were looking for somewhere to stay and John opened up his home to them. In a way, he’s self-medicating with perhaps the onset of grief-led depression and thinks that having someone else in the house might improve the mood at home.

In his own way, he thinks that having younger voices in the house might help the Harris family too. I think, partly, John was using it as a way to change the dynamic inside his own family but when Annie arrived, he’s formed a strong bond with her. She’s very intelligent, empathetic and a kind person, and he’s grown close to her.

How do his sons feel about Annie?

Being emotionally raw from the death of his mother, Patrick views Annie as a replacement and hasn’t taken well to her being there. In his mind, John is betraying his mother’s memory by having a bond with another woman.

Patrick doesn’t mince his words and knows exactly how to wind up his father. So, with Annie’s arrival, Patrick uses this change in their home life as a method to attack his father.

I still think underneath all that there’s a real love between the Harris men but no matter how much this is the case, you can still have grand arguments and difficulties with your loved ones.

The Harris men have a very troubled dynamic, what is John’s relationship like with his sons?

A lot of the time with older sons, like Patrick Harris, too much pressure gets placed on them to do the right thing and tick every box and John is guilty of this. Patrick has rebelled against the responsibility and all the pressure John has been putting on him over the years.

I was the youngest son in my family and it is easier having that role. Fergus Harris is the youngest one and gets a bit of a ‘hall pass’ in life, he’s let off lightly compared to his older brother. All of this has created a sense of animosity between Patrick and Fergus and, of course, the loss of their mother has had an emotional impact on them.

The theme of ‘father and son’ is key to this series of Shetland…

Yes, indeed and the Harris family explore that theme alongside grief. As is often the case with death in a family, everyone worries about how the youngest child is coping so Patrick is often forgotten about. I’d imagine a lot of John’s emotional support has gone towards Fergus and not to Patrick. He’s kicking out against this and Patrick is rebelling against his father in every way he can.

As in most jobs you do as an actor, you try and find that emotional common ground with your character and you mine your emotional hard drive for those occasions in your life which mirror the script.

Have you ever visited the Shetland Isles before?

It’s the most beautiful place, it really is, it’s incredible. Unfortunately, with my filming schedule, I’d film then have to fly back home. I did manage to squeeze in some walks around Lerwick but, sometimes, the weather would beat me back…not that that put me off. Even just looking out my hotel window at the incredible landscape in front of me was wonderful.

When you’re fortunate enough to visit a place like Shetland, you don’t mind the rain so much.

How did you find the filming experience of Shetland?

I’ve worked on many sets around the world, with lots of different crews but I can say that Shetland was the nicest team I’ve ever worked with. Everyone was very friendly and kind – I know actors say that all the time but it really was true with this show. There was a really, really lovely atmosphere.

The great thing about the show and about the BBC is that they are really committed to Shetland. Sometimes, you’ll do a job that supposed to be set in a specific location and you end up hardly being there or you’re there for as few days as possible. That’s not the case with Shetland. They’re there for quite a long time and it’s central to the story of the drama.

What was it like filming with Ashley Jensen and Alison O’Donnell?

I’ve not worked with Alison before but she was fantastic to be around. Ashley and I did an Agatha Raisin together but it was during the Covid years so it was great fun but weird. Years later, I’m still meeting crew I worked with who I don’t recognise without their masks on!

Shetland is hugely popular the world over – what do you think is the secret to its success?

It’s the beautiful locations but I also think that it’s the fact that every year they find interesting stories and plotlines. They’ve also created characters that you believe in. The filmmakers have obviously found the right recipe to make it work – they play to their strengths.

Have you filmed in Scotland before?

I love filming in Scotland. Weirdly, I seem to have fallen into doing Scottish accents a lot over the years! The first time I worked in Scotland was with the late, great Robbie Coltrane on The Planman and that was the first time I did a Scottish accent. And then I ended up doing Low Winter Sun with another Scottish accent and then Traces so perhaps a lot of people might think that I’m actually Scottish?

I’m beginning to think I should step back from taking on these roles otherwise I could upset my Scottish acting friends!

And memorable moments from filming on Shetland?

Being on John’s boat all day was quite something. Luckily we were going out on calm water but I do remember the old adage that my mother used to say to me on our travels to Ireland when I was young: “Always watch the horizon, don’t watch the sea birds”. So I kind of did that when we were filming because I can’t take sea sickness tablets because, ironically, they make me ill! I was always glad at the end of the day when we got off the boat on to terra firma.

In five words, can you sum up what fans can expect from the new series of Shetland?

Beautiful settings, great story, watch it! Technically, that’s six words though…