Villainous attorney Phyllis Brenan
Phyllis Brenan (Anna Chancellor) is a hidden recurring (later redeemed) villainess from Season 3 of BBC's Shetland. She was a Glasgow prosecutor and the mother of Ben Brenan, who was responsible for the rape of Kelly Paterson.
It was her son's crime that resulted in Phyllis becoming a conspirator for gangster Arthur McCall and his lawyer Calvin Sarwar, as she turned for them for help after Ben told her about the incident (believing her son when he claimed innocence). After using their influences to stop Kelly from pressing charges, Calvin called Phyllis and revealed what he and Arhur wanted from her in return for their services: for her to block police investigations into his illegal financial activity.
Not wanting herself and her son to be implicated, Phyllis went through with Calvin's demands, diverting police investigations away from Calvin by leading them down other avenues. In the season's final episode, however, Phyllis confronted her son about the night he'd raped Kelly, leading her to realize that her son had in fact attacked her. Horrified and regretful over her actions, Phyllis turned herself in to the police and made a statement to DI Jimmy Perez, revealing how'd she gone along with the cover-up for her son after Calvin convinced her that Kelly was lying in an attempt to extort money from her.
Phyllis became even more remorseful after being told that two people were believed to have been killed as a result of her actions and that DS Alison "Tosh" McIntosh had been attacked, leading her to agree to wear a wire when she went to meet with Calvin. During their meeting, Phyllis expressed disgust in Calvin's callous and self-centered demeanor regarding his crimes, with Calvin shaming Phyllis as a "hypocrite" and warned her not to tell anyone about their arrangement. Later on, though, Phyllis provided the police with the recording to help in their investigation against Arthur and Calvin, presumably being arrested (off-screen) for her collusion with them.
Trivia[]
- Anna Chancellor later appeared on Death in Paradise as the evil Ciss Dacre.