Ashley Jensen said she had never been to Shetland before she pitched up in her new role as the lead actor in the hit BBC crime drama.
The Scottish actress told the BBC the islands “were just like nothing” she had seen before.
Jensen is taking over from Douglas Henshall as a detective in the BBC One Scotland drama.
In her first interview with the chanel since taking over from DI Jimmy Perez, she said: “The view I had when I came into land was just like nothing I’d ever seen before,” she says in her first interview from the set of the show.
“I think I was a bit dumbfounded.”
“I’m a bit of a talker but it shut me up. I just soaked in this landscape.”
Many fans of the show had called for Tosh, played by Alison O’Donnell, to be given the Henshall’s role.
Jensen, 53, plays DI Ruth Calder, a native Shetlander, who reluctantly returns to the isles after 20 years working for the Met Police in London.
Shetland actor says Henshall’s boots hard to fill
The Dumfriesshire-born actor, got her big break when she starred alongside Ricky Gervais in Extras in 2005.
She has since starred in US TV series Ugly Betty before returning to the UK with roles in shows such as Agatha Raisin and Catastrophe.
She said of filling Henshall’s boots: “I almost can’t think about it too much because I would get the fear.
“I’ve tried to look at it as a new project for me and its a new world because people predominantly know me for a lot of comedy that I’ve done.
She said DI Calder has returned to Shetland from London so she is very urban.
“She’s very much more sophisticated than the weather here would allow,” Jensen says.
“There’s a lot more cashmere involved because I said to my costume designer I’m a wee bit feeble in the cold.
“So at the moment there’s lots of cashmere and it’s quite long and sleek.”
Shetland series eight will air on BBC One later in the year.
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