The BEST Episodes of Shetland
Every episode ever - ranked by fan votes!
Last Updated: Dec 28, 2019
Network: BBC One
Set against the stark backdrop of Scotland's rugged coastline, DI Jimmy Perez and his team investigate murders in the small island community of Shetland.
#1 - Episode 6
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired Mar 20, 2018
Troubled by historical DNA evidence results, Jimmy has to face the fact that Duncan may have been involved in Lizzie Kilmuir's murder, and potentially Sally McColl's as well. A shocked Duncan is brought to the station for questioning, hurt that Perez would even think him capable of murder. However, the detective knows Duncan's lying - perhaps not about the murder, but about something else significant. So when Duncan finally admits he had an affair with Donna, it's not long before a bombshell is dropped.
8.27 
#2 - Episode 6
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired Mar 4, 2016
As the investigation reaches its final stages, Detective Inspector Perez and his team discover the person responsible for the deaths of Robbie Morton and Michael Thompson is closer to home than any of them thought.
8.21 
#3 - Episode 6
Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired Mar 19, 2019
With Olivia giving up hope, Perez at last closes in on Zezi's location. But can he reach her before it's too late? Duncan is traumatised after his discovery on the beach.
8.15 
#4 - Episode 5
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired Mar 13, 2018
Following Jo's assault, the team is devastated. While Sandy feels guilty for not protecting her more, Jimmy tries to keep everyone focused, but pressure mounts on him to re-arrest Malone. However, in the absence of evidence, Perez resists. Adding to his stress, DI Cole and DS Jackson from the MIT arrive and begin picking holes in his investigation. Stunned that a search of Malone's farmhouse has not been carried out, Cole and Jackson conduct their own. However, when they arrive, Malone is nowhere to be seen.
8.08 
#5 - Episode 1
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired Jan 15, 2016
When a young man disappears on the Aberdeen to Shetland ferry crossing and a small boy ends up in intensive care, DI Jimmy Perez and his team investigate, becoming convinced the two events are connected.
8.05 
#6 - Dead Water - Part 2
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired Apr 1, 2014
After a second body is found brutally murdered on Shetland, Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez wonders if the two killings are connected to corporate greed and corruption on the island or to just one woman - Evie Watt.
8.02 
#7 - Episode 5
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired Feb 19, 2016
Perez struggles to deal with what has happened to Tosh as he continues to investigate the murders of Robbie Morton and Michael Thompson, but a shocking discovery finally leads him to the identity of who Thompson was going to testify against.
8.01 
#8 - Episode 4
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired Mar 6, 2018
Perez and Tosh are warned to stay away from Mathias Soderland by the Norwegian Secret Service, who tell them they're meddling in an operation they don't understand. With Soderland their prime suspect for Sally McColl's murder, Perez and Tosh won't be bullied. However, their investigation is suddenly derailed by a shocking discovery.
7.96 
#9 - Blue Lightning - Part 2
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired Apr 15, 2014
Time is running out for Detective Inspector Perez as prime suspect Peter Latimer lies critically ill in hospital. Was the fire a drunken accident, or was Peter Latimer the second victim of a murderer still free on Fair Isle?
7.94 
#10 - Episode 1
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired Feb 13, 2018
When Shetlander Thomas Malone has his murder conviction overturned after 23 years, which he's spent behind bars, Perez has to reopen an investigation into the 1994 death of local teenager Lizzie Kilmuir. Later, Perez gets a text from Cassie saying she is unexpectedly flying back to Shetland, so he and Duncan meet her at the airport.
7.92 
#11 - Episode 3
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired Feb 28, 2018
Jimmy questions Donna about the shocking DNA results, Alison arrives in Norway in search of Andreas Hagan, and an unexpected twist leads Perez and Tosh into the murky world of the Norwegian far right.
7.91 
#12 - Episode 3
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired Feb 5, 2016
The murder investigation takes Perez and Tosh to Glasgow as they try to uncover the reasons behind Maguire's brutal death and his connection to Robbie Morton. But old ghosts return to haunt Perez as his enemies try to prevent him from getting to the truth.
7.88 
#13 - Episode 1
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired Feb 12, 2019
When body parts belonging to a young Nigerian man are discovered on the island, Perez and the team investigate. They use CCTV to trace the victim's last movements, and after scrutinising his emails and social media accounts, the case takes a sinister turn.
7.86 
#14 - Episode 3
Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired Feb 26, 2019
Calum is rushed to the hospital after attempting suicide while in custody, which brings Sandy under internal investigation for providing him with a pen. Jimmy travels to Glasgow to investigate human trafficking, but has he brought his family into danger? Meaning, Zezi sees a way to escape from her captor.
7.86 
#15 - Dead Water - Part 1
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired Mar 25, 2014
When an old acquaintance of Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez dies in a suspicious car accident on the island, he wonders whether his journalist friend had uncovered a story that cost him his life.
7.85 
#16 - Episode 2
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired Feb 20, 2018
The hunt is on for Malone's attacker, Tosh investigates Forst Energy in the search for Sally's killer, and DNA in the Kilmuir case yields a surprising result.
7.84 
#17 - Episode 4
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired Feb 12, 2016
Perez and his team are determined to track down the person who helped Michael Thompson's killer on Shetland. But the closer the team get to the truth in both Shetland and Glasgow, the more dangerous it becomes for all of them.
7.82 
#18 - Episode 2
Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired Feb 19, 2019
Carla and Prentice Hayes are found murdered in a violent knife attack. Jamie Hayes is missing, initially leading the team to speculate that he could be responsible. But Jimmy is convinced that Jamie could not have mutilated his mother in this way. Aware of her altercation with Prentice the previous evening, Perez pays a visit to Olivia Lennox. She's in her room, shaken, with blood on her clothes. Could she be responsible or an innocent bystander?
7.81 
#19 - Blue Lightning - Part 1
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired Apr 8, 2014
When a scientist is murdered in a bird sanctuary on Fair Isle and Perez returns to his childhood home to investigate, a storm forces Perez and the suspects to remain enclosed under the same roof.
7.80 
#20 - Raven Black - Part 2
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired Mar 18, 2014
Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez believes he and his team are finally closing in on the killer as they discover what 17-year-old Catherine Ross was hiding from everyone in the hours before her death.
7.77 
#21 - Episode 2
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired Jan 22, 2016
DI Jimmy Perez is convinced that Michael Maguire is somehow implicated in the death of Robbie Morton. But with the investigation seemingly under threat before it's even started, he faces an uphill battle to uncover the truth behind Maguire's silence.
7.77 
#22 - Episode 5
Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired Mar 12, 2019
The discovery of Nikki's body intensifies the search for Zezi. Perez feels that time is running out. A desperate Olivia tries to get information from Jamie Hayes.
7.75 
#23 - Episode 4
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired Mar 5, 2019
Convinced that Zezi is being held on Shetland, Perez and the team ramp up the pressure on their remaining leads. Personally, Perez finds himself in turmoil after his kiss with Alice.
7.74 
#24 - Raven Black - Part 1
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired Mar 11, 2014
Old wounds are painfully reopened for the shocked residents of Ravenswick, as Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez and his team look to a past crime to solve the present day murder of a young teenage girl.
7.60 
#25 - Red Bones - Part 2
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired Mar 11, 2013
With two murders and no strong leads, can Detective Inspector Perez and his team apprehend the suspect before crowds descend on the Shetland Islands for Up Helly Aa, the biggest fire festival in Europe?
7.55