Shetland's Mark Bonnar admits co-star 'broke my heart' as they reunite in Netflix drama

star Mark Bonnar, who plays Duncan Hunter in the Scottish detective series, has opened up about his new role for . The actor is set to reunite with a few of his Shetland co-stars, including Katie Dickie, Kelly Macdonald and Jamie Sives, for new crime series Department Q.

The Netflix thriller follows the brilliant but flawed DCI Carl Morck (Matthew Goode), who is banished to the basement to set up a new cold case unit. In the upcoming show, which is based in Edinburgh, Bonnar plays Lord Advocate Stephen Burns.

Meanwhile, MacDonald stars as therapist Dr Rachel Irving, Dickie appears as police DCS Moira Jacobson and Sives portrays Morck's partner DI James Hardy.

Speaking ahead of the Netflix show's launch about whether he had worked with any of the cast or crew from Department Q before, Bonnar admitted one of his Shetland co-stars "broke his heart".

He said: "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'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 quipped.

Speaking about his own character, Bonnar revealed: "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."

Department Q comes from the mind of The Queen's Gambit creator Scott Frank, who has adapted the story from a series of Danish Nordic noir crime novels by author Jussi Adler-Olsen.

The official Netflix synopsis for Dept. Q reads: "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 will premiere exclusively on Netflix on Thursday, May 29.