Shetland Star Douglas Henshall Is Almost Unrecognisable In Dark New Six-Part Mystery About A House Hiding A Chilling Secret

For seven series, Douglas Henshall was instantly recognizable as the quietly formidable DI Jimmy Perez in Shetland.

Now the Scottish actor has stepped into a dramatically different role — playing a vulnerable man whose fading memory may be concealing something disturbing inside his own home.

Henshall leads Channel 5’s new six-part mystery Forever Home, adapted from Graham Norton’s bestselling novel of the same name.

And at the centre of the story is one unsettling place Robert Barrie desperately does not want anyone investigating: a concealed basement.

A House Robert Refuses To Leave

Henshall plays Robert Barrie, who is living with early onset dementia.

His condition has left him increasingly vulnerable and uncertain as his memory deteriorates, a striking contrast with the controlled detective Henshall played for years in Shetland.

Robert lives with his partner Carol Crottie, played by former Emmerdale star Amy Nuttall.

But Robert’s behaviour around their home begins to raise questions.

His growing unease about the property’s hidden basement particularly catches Carol’s attention.

Instead of ignoring it, she becomes increasingly curious about what might be concealed there.

And the deeper she looks, the more troubling the family’s history becomes.

A Very Different Douglas Henshall

The transformation extends beyond Henshall’s character.

As Jimmy Perez, viewers became accustomed to seeing the actor with a weathered appearance, usually dressed simply in jeans and a dark peacoat while investigating crimes across the Shetland Islands.

Robert looks noticeably different.

Henshall appears with slicked-back hair and is dressed in colorful button-up shirts and knitwear throughout the new drama.

More importantly, the emotional balance has changed completely.

Perez was often the person trying to uncover secrets.

Robert appears to be the man desperately trying to keep something buried.

His dementia adds another disturbing complication: even Robert’s own recollections cannot necessarily provide Carol with the answers she needs.

Robert’s First Wife Disappeared With His Brother

The opening episode begins revealing pieces of Robert’s troubled past.

Carol learns more about his first wife, Joan.

Joan reportedly ran away with Robert’s brother Neal — a painful episode from his life that Robert rarely discusses with his current partner.

For years, that part of his history appears to have remained largely untouched.

Then Robert’s birthday dinner changes things.

A confused and furious episode during the celebration pushes Carol towards a disturbing discovery involving what is described as a “chilling revelation of hatred and unresolved trauma.”

Suddenly, Robert’s resistance to discussing the past — and his anxiety surrounding the basement — takes on a far more ominous significance.

Carol Starts Digging Into The Past

The mystery places Carol in a particularly difficult position.

Robert is living with a condition that is affecting his ability to remember and understand events around him.

Yet his behaviour suggests there are parts of his history that matter enormously to whatever is happening inside the house.

Carol therefore begins trying to piece together a past that her partner may no longer be capable of explaining clearly.

The disappearance of Joan with Neal becomes part of that puzzle.

So does Robert’s emotional reaction to the basement.

And the apparently ordinary home gradually becomes the centre of a mystery stretching back through relationships, betrayals and unresolved family trauma.

Henshall Leads A Familiar Cast

Henshall is joined by several familiar faces across the six episodes.

Amy Nuttall, known to soap viewers for Emmerdale, plays Carol.

Fellow Emmerdale star Lewis Cope also appears, while Coronation Street and Loose Women favourite Denise Welch joins the cast.

For Henshall, the series continues a run of projects that have taken him into very different territory since he left Shetland.

The actor departed the BBC crime drama in 2022 after seven series as DI Jimmy Perez.

Since then, his television work has included Who Is Erin Carter?, Murder Is Easy, The Darkness and The Revenge Club.

Life After Jimmy Perez

Leaving such an established character inevitably meant viewers would continue associating Henshall with Perez.

His new role offers a particularly sharp break from that image.

Rather than confidently investigating somebody else’s mystery, Robert is trapped inside one involving his own family and home.

His declining memory makes the situation even more uncertain.

Information from his past emerges in fragments, while Carol is forced to decide how deeply she should investigate things Robert appears determined — or perhaps simply unable — to explain.

That reversal gives Henshall the opportunity to play a character considerably more fragile than the detective who made him such a familiar presence on British television.

Another Dark Mystery Is Already Ahead

Henshall also has another unsettling project on the horizon.

According to his IMDb profile, he is set to appear in horror mystery One of Us alongside Heartstopper star Kit Connor.

Its premise revolves around members of a family who begin dying one after another during a funeral while the youngest among them searches for a stranger hiding in their midst.

But first comes the mystery inside Robert Barrie’s home.

A man losing his memories.

A first wife who disappeared with his brother.

A partner beginning to ask uncomfortable questions.

And a basement Robert appears deeply disturbed by.

After years of watching Douglas Henshall uncover other people’s secrets in Shetland, Forever Home places him firmly on the other side of the mystery.

This time, the secrets are inside his own house.

Forever Home is available to watch on Channel 5 and 5.