The elder local actors you see in Shetland mostly come from the Shetland Isles themselves and from wider Scotland, especially the Scottish acting community in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Quick Scoop: Where do the older actors come from?

The show Shetland is a BBC crime drama set in the Shetland Isles, and the production makes a point of using local people and Scottish performers to give the series an authentic feel.

That’s why many of the older background characters in village scenes, pubs, ferries, and community events are either:

  • Long‑time residents of Shetland (appearing as extras or in small speaking parts)
  • Scottish stage and television actors brought up from the mainland to play elders, crofters, and community figures

In practice, the casting breaks down roughly like this:

  1. Principal older characters – Often professional Scottish actors with long careers in TV, theatre, or radio, cast via central casting in Scotland and London.
  1. Older extras and small roles – Frequently local Shetlanders, chosen while filming on location or via local casting calls to keep the community believable.

A simple example: the series regularly uses real Shetland cafés, halls, and harbours, and fills them with residents as background artists, including many older islanders who aren’t career actors at all.

How the production uses local elders

Although the official cast lists only show the named roles, on‑location articles about Shetland and tourism trails note that locals appear on screen in many scenes.

When the crew films in places like Lerwick, Levenwick, and other North and South Mainland locations, they often:

  • Put out calls through local networks for extras, including retirees and long‑term island residents.
  • Use familiar faces from the community again across different episodes to maintain continuity in the fictional town.
  • Lean on the island’s real social fabric, so older extras look and behave like actual Shetlanders rather than stylised TV villagers.

This is also why travel and tour sites for fans talk about seeing the “real Shetland people and places” when you visit filming locations, because those same older faces often appeared on screen.

The professional elder actors

For recurring older characters (for example, older crofters, long‑standing community figures, or senior professionals), the production mainly uses seasoned Scottish actors.

These performers tend to come from:

  • Glasgow and Edinburgh theatre and TV circles , which feed many BBC Scotland and ITV productions.
  • A wider pool of UK actors with strong Scottish ties or experience playing Highland and island roles.

The main and recurring cast list shows how heavily the series relies on Scottish talent generally, even if it doesn’t explicitly mark who is a “local Shetlander” versus a mainland Scot.

Why they feel so authentic

Part of what makes the older characters in Shetland stand out is the mix of real island elders and trained actors:

  • Real Shetlanders bring genuine dialects, mannerisms, and island rhythms of speech.
  • Experienced Scottish actors help carry the story arcs and heavier emotional scenes while still sounding regionally credible.

Tourism materials and filming location guides repeatedly highlight that the show’s atmosphere comes as much from the people as from the landscape, which reinforces the idea that many older faces are genuinely local.

Mini FAQ

Do all the elder actors actually live in Shetland?
No. Key older roles are mostly professional Scottish actors, while many older background faces and minor parts are real Shetland islanders filmed on location.

Is there an official list of “elder elder” local actors?
There isn’t a public, detailed breakdown of every older extra or small part by origin; extras aren’t usually listed in credits, so most information comes from filming reports and tourism features rather than from formal casting notes.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.