BBC UNVEILS ‘MINT’ – THE DARK, FEMALE-LED CRIME SAGA THAT WILL LEAVE SHETLAND IN THE DUST
Exclusive First Look: Douglas Henshall Returns to BBC Screens in a Role More Brutal Than Jimmy Perez Ever Was
The BBC has dropped the first official details of its most anticipated 2026 thriller – and it’s already being called the spiritual successor to Shetland that dares to go much, much darker.
At its blood-stained heart is Shannon, the sheltered yet fiercely romantic daughter of the city’s most feared crime dynasty. Raised inside the velvet-walled prison of the “family business”, Shannon has spent her life cocooned by violence she was never allowed to touch – until now.
The official synopsis reads: “At the centre of Mint is Shannon, the naïve and fiercely romantic daughter of the area’s dominant crime family. Shannon is desperately searching for love in the shadow of her gangster father, Dylan, devoted mum Cat, older brother Luke and the indomitable family matriarch, grandma Ollie. Having grown up protected within the surreal, yet violent confines of the ‘family business’, things are set to change once Arran arrives on the scene.”
The logline ends with a gut-punch promise: “A story about soaring romance and crushing heartbreak, love, infatuation, darkness and tragedy, Shannon is trying to find herself whilst dealing with the plain weirdness of living alongside the lawless world of the criminal elite, and pursuing her own version of power.”
Created by acclaimed filmmaker Charlotte Regan (Scrapper) in her television debut, the six-part series is produced by the teams behind Vigil, The Capture and Mood – Fearless Minds and House Productions.
Regan said: “Mint is a crime drama like no other. Championing the females in the family, it shows a very different side to what a life of crime is really like for those who live alongside that world – the wives, the daughters, the matriarchs who hold everything together while the men play gangsters. I’m over the moon that Charlotte has chosen to work with the BBC on her first TV series.”
Insiders describe the tone as “Succession soaked in blood and set to a Lana Del Rey soundtrack”, with Sunday-night viewers warned to expect scenes of emotional brutality that make Bodyguard look like a cosy knit.
Cast: A Murderer’s Row of British Heavyweights
While the BBC is keeping the full lineup tightly under wraps until the trailer drops next month, Douglas Henshall is confirmed to be returning to BBC Scotland drama in a pivotal, chilling role that sources say is “unlike anything he’s ever played – think Jimmy Perez if he’d chosen the other side of the law.”
Early casting rumours swirling around the production include:
A BAFTA-winning actress in talks to play the indomitable grandma Ollie – the true puppet-master of the empire
One of Britain’s most in-demand young stars circling the role of Shannon
A former Skins and Euphoria breakout reportedly screen-testing for the mysterious Arran – the outsider who blows the family apart
What Makes Mint Different?
Unlike every other British crime drama that fetishises the “big boss” or the brooding hitman, Mint turns the camera on the women and children who inherit the trauma. It asks: what happens to the daughter who just wants to fall in love when every boyfriend has to be vetted for wiretaps? How far will a mother go to protect her child from the life she married into And can a grandmother who built an empire on bodies ever allow her granddaughter to walk away
Early script leaks describe scenes of matriarchs sipping champagne while casually ordering executions, teenage girls scrolling TikTok minutes after witnessing a kneecapping, and a forbidden romances that end with bodies in the boot of a Range Rover.
One production source told us: “Shetland was about islands and silence. This is about bloodlines and screaming. If Shetland broke your heart, Mint will reach in and squeeze until something snaps.”
Filming begins in Glasgow and the Scottish Highlands in early 2026 for a late-autumn transmission on BBC One and iPlayer.
Buckle up. The family business just got personal.
