Shetland season 9 sees Ashley Jensen return as DI Ruth Calder as she is once again thrown into a dark and distressing case that she fights to solve with her colleague and friend Tosh (Alison O’Donnell). This season sees the pair drawn into a deeply personal investigation for Tosh when her friend, Annie Bett, goes missing and she suspects something is seriously wrong. But soon two crimes that the police are working on soon collide and the plot thickens.
Here is everything that happened in Shetland season 9 episode episode 1...
The opening scene for the new season sets the gripping tone for the show when we see a close-up of Calder's face as she is talking about how she went back to London to work for the Met Police for a month before realising her home was Shetland. She seems nervous as she talks about coming back to the island to buy a house and begin working with Tosh again, and it is only as the camera pans out that we see she is being held at gunpoint.
A young man, who we discover is Malcolm Kidd, is pointing a shotgun at her, and it is only then that we see a dead body lying in a pool of blood in the middle of Malcolm's kitchen. He has clearly killed the person, who turns out to be his brother, Andrew Kidd.
Calder asks if they can cover Andrew's body up and Malcolm tells her where she can find a tablecloth, which she gets while still having a gun pointed at her. Calder's phone rings and it is Tosh, who tells her that they are trying to locate Elenor, who is Malcom's fiance and he is demanding to see her.
Outside the house, there are police everywhere and Tosh tells Calder, who is still at gunpoint that they have been given the authority to come in with guns, so be prepared. Calder tries to talk Malcolm down and is honest, telling him that Elenor isn't coming as the police wouldn't put her in that danger and that he needs to remain calm. He says it wasn't meant to be like this, before mentioning this is all because of Bergen. Tosh is still outside worrying about Calder when a gunshot rings out from inside the house and the armed police storm in, arresting Malcolm.
Tosh is pleased to see Calder is okay and just in shock... Calder breaks the tense atmosphere by asking Tosh if she is wearing lipstick.
After Calder has been checked out by a paramedic, Tosh lays into her for putting herself into such a risky situation. Calder admits she was trying to do her bit as the new girl and didn't realise what she was walking into when the call came in to go to Malcolm's house. Calder asks Tosh why she is dressed all fancy and she says she is on her way to a party.
As Sandy drives Calder home, he offers to come in with her, but she turns him down. Once inside she cries as the enormity of what happened that afternoon hits her. Meanwhile, Tosh arrives at the party and catches up with her friends, who all ask about Malcolm killing his brother, but she refuses to talk about it.
Tosh sees her friend Annie Bett and her husband Ian arguing and comforts their young son, Noah, who says that his parents are splitting up. After the argument, Ian goes back into the party to get drunk while Annie and Noah get their coats and leave. As she is getting into the car, Annie asks Tosh if she will meet her the next morning at 10am and gives her an address, telling her she has something important to ask but won't say what.
The next morning Calder's brother, Alan, turns up to check she is okay and tells her that his wife Ama has left him. But before they can talk further Billy calls from the station and tells Calder she needs to come in as there has been a development with Malcolm Kidd. Malcolm has passed his psych test and is also submitting a full confession statement, but he still won't say why he killed his brother.
Meanwhile, Tosh arrives to see Annie but finds the house locked up. Mussel farmer John Harris and his two sons, Patrick and Fergus then arrive and confirm that Annie and Noah have been staying with them since she split from Ian, but that no one has seen her since before the party the night before. They also discover their beds haven't been slept in.
Tosh is worried and knows something doesn't add up about Annie's disappearance and so calls Donny to ask around and see if anyone has seen Annie or her estranged husband. Donny confirms that Ian is also missing, his car is still at the bar where the party was held because he went home in a taxi, drunk.
Back at the station, Calder asks Malcolm why he is pleading guilty to murder and tells him there is a difference between killing with intent and an argument getting out of hand, but he is determined to confess to murder and tells Calder he needs to pay for what he has done.
They finally track down Elenor, who is reluctant to talk at first but eventually spills to Calder that she was having a fling with Andrew and that Malcolm probably found out and that is why they were arguing. Calder asks her if she or Malcolm have ever been to Bergen in Norway (after Malcolm mentioned it after shooting his brother) but Elenor doesn't know what she is talking about.
Tosh tells Calder about Annie being missing and that she is worried about her friend. Calder tells her that if her gut is saying something is wrong then she should trust her instincts - after all, she wasn't promoted to DI for nothing. Tosh is grateful and they head to Annie's house to get answers.
Once there they find the door has been broken into and the house is a mess. They hear a noise coming from the bathroom and find Annie's old Oxford tutor, Euan Rossi, hiding in there. He explains he has come to the house to see Annie after he got a distressing voicemail from her in the middle of the night. He didn't break in and cause the mess, it was like this when he arrived. He plays the voicemail to Tosh and Calder and they hear Annie asking Euan for help and telling him she is in trouble. The police take Euan to the station to get his statement and a copy of the voicemail.
Knowing something bad has happened to her friend, Tosh officially reports Annie and Noah missing, as well as Ian, and soon a police hunt begins. They visit John and his sons again asking them questions about Annie and Ian's failed marriage but he doesn't know a lot. They also search Annie's room but don't find much.
Meanwhile, a man is working in his garage when Noah quietly appears behind him, having walked for miles down empty country roads. He is silent when the man asks him if he is okay, but soon things turn sinister when the man, Hector, notices Noah's jumper is covered in blood.
The police and ambulance are called and the paramedic confirms that Noah is unhurt and the blood isn't his. Tosh tries to talk to Noah as she knows him well, but he remains silent and is clearly in shock. The paramedics take him to the hospital for a proper check and Tosh tells them to bag his clothes as evidence. As they are leaving Calder notices Noah has builders plaster all over his shoes and asks Hector if there is a building site or renovations being done nearby. He confirms that there is a place being done up a few miles down the road and the company is Ian Bett's - Noah's dad.
When Tosh and Calder arrive at the house that is being renovated they find Annie's car parked outside. They go indoors and find the house is gutted and being plastered. It doesn't take them long to find Annie dead on the floor and covered in blood. But that isn't all they find in the house.
The pair follow a trail of blood upstairs and find another body, but it isn't Ian. Tosh doesn't recognise the man so they search the body for ID and find his driving licence, which reveals his name is Bergen - so the Bergen that Malcolm was talking about isn't a city in Norway like Calder thought, it is a person. But how is Malcolm killing his brother related to Annie's death?
Shetland season 9 airs at 9pm on Wednesdays on BBC One. It will also arrive on BBC iPlayer each week after the episode has aired on BBC One.
