The Shetland stars go wild swimming between takes, Phyllis Logan has revealed, adding she thinks they're "mad fools!".
The Downton Abbey legend, who plays matriarch Grace Bain in the new series, tells What to Watch that the cast has dived into the open-water swimming craze.
Phyllis reveals she had a wonderful time making Shetland season 8, now airing on BBC One, and that the younger members of the cast fitted in as much wild swimming as they could.
"Oh, I can't tell you, it was one of the funniest jobs I've done! It was a spectacular job to be up on Shetland where I'd never been before, so that was a bonus, but they were such great fun, we had such a laugh. They all used to go wild-swimming, the youngsters — me as the granny of the troupe, I sort of said: 'Oh you kids go and get on with it!"
"But yeah, they used to work out times, I'd hear them in discussion: 'We're not being picked up until what time tomorrow? Yeah, so we've got time to go to... I've noticed there's a lovely beach down there., blah-blah-blah.' So they'd all go swimming before going to work I'm like, 'You mad fools!'"
Shetland is obviously a dramatic and beautiful place to swim, with nearly 1,700 miles of coastline. However, anyone fancying a dip should note that wild swimming does come with risks and The Outdoor Swimming Society has guidance on how to swim safely.
If you'd prefer wild swimming from the comfort of your living room, we recommend The Ponds, available on Netflix. The Ponds is a feature-length documentary about the year-round swimmers of the historic ponds on Hampstead Heath in London.
Shetland season 8 continues on BBC One (see our TV Guide for full listings). If you missed the first episode of the new series or want to catch up on the previous series, note they're available to stream now on iPlayer.
