BBC Shetland's Mark Bonnar says co-star 'broke my heart' as they reunite for new Netflix drama
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Mark Bonnar, known for his role as Duncan Hunter in the hit series Shetland, has shared insights into his latest venture with Netflix. The BBC star is set to join forces again with several Shetland alumni, including Katie Dickie, Kelly Macdonald, and Jamie Sives, in the new crime series Department Q.
The Netflix series centres around DCI Carl Morck (played by Matthew Goode), a talented yet imperfect detective relegated to the basement to establish a cold case division. Set in Edinburgh, Bonnar takes on the role of Lord Advocate Stephen Burns.
MacDonald features as therapist Dr Rachel Irving, Dickie portrays police DCS Moira Jacobson, and Sives steps into the shoes of Morck's partner DI James Hardy.
In anticipation of the show's debut, Bonnar opened up about his previous collaborations with the Department Q cast and crew, revealing a particularly poignant experience with one of his Shetland colleagues.
(Image: (Image: BBC))
He confessed: "I had worked with Jamie Sives before and he's a good friend, and far too modest for his own good - he's amazing.
"I texted him after watching episode one to tell him how fantastic he was – he broke my heart without saying a word," he revealed.
"He's a class turn that boy. I know Kelly MacDonald and Kate Dickie I worked with on Shetland, but we only had a tiny bit together.
"You kind of get to know everyone up here via the Scottish BAFTAs or the theatre - the Scottish Mafia is very small!" he joked.
Discussing his role, Bonnar shared: "He's wily, very self-assured and doesn't suffer fools gladly. He has made some mistakes - as you find out in the course of the show - which makes him a fascinating character.
"He was great fun to play, especially as he enjoys his high status and doesn't want to give any of it away to anybody, making him a great foil for a complete maverick like Carl Morck."
(Image: (Image: NETFLIX))
Department Q is the brainchild of The Queen's Gambit creator Scott Frank, who has adapted the narrative from a series of Danish Nordic noir crime novels penned by author Jussi Adler-Olsen, reports the Express.
The official Netflix synopsis for Dept. Q describes: "DCI Carl Morck is a brilliant cop but a terrible colleague. His razor-sharp sarcasm has made him no friends in Edinburgh Police.
"After a shooting that leaves a young PC dead, and his partner paralysed, he finds himself exiled to the basement and the sole member of Dept. Q; a newly formed cold case unit.
"The department is a PR stunt, there to distract the public from the failures of an under-resourced, failing police force that is glad to see the back of him.
"But more by accident than design, Carl starts to build a gang of waifs and strays who have everything to prove.
"So, when the stone-cold trail of a prominent civil servant who disappeared several years ago starts to heat up, Carl is back doing what he does best - rattling cages and refusing to take no for an answer."
Department Q is set to make its exclusive debut on Netflix on Thursday, May 29.
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