Rebus’s Richard Rankin says reboot is written “so wonderfully”

Rankin has heaped praise on the writing for the new BBC crime drama adapted from Ian Rankin’s novels.

By James Hibbs

Published: Wednesday, 08 May 2024 at 18:00 PM

The latest adaptation of Ian Rankin’s beloved Inspector Rebus novels, Rebus, is arriving on BBC One later this month, following John Rebus as a young detective sergeant, who finds himself drawn into a violent conflict, one which becomes personal when his brother crosses the line.

The series arrives with lofty expectations, not only because of the popularity of the books, but also because of the inevitable comparison’s with ITV’s version which starred John Hannah and, later, Ken Stott.

However, speaking ahead of the show’s arrival, Richard Rankin (no relation to Ian), who stars in the title role in the new show, has suggested fans have nothing to fear, as he has heaped praise on its “excellent” writing.

Speaking with RadioTimes.com exclusively, Rankin said: “It’s a very popular genre anyway, isn’t it, the Crime genre? There is such an appetite for it, there always has been in one form or another. The source material is so well-written, so wonderfully written by Ian Rankin.

Lucie Shorthouse as Siobhan Clarke and Richard Rankin as John Rebus. They re both looking at a computer, concentrating.
Lucie Shorthouse as Siobhan Clarke and Richard Rankin as John Rebus.

Rankin continued: “And then we’ve got the screenwriting and it is so, so good from Greg Burke, I think he’s an excellent writer, and I think his take on it is exciting. I think that we have such a rich world to draw from, and Greg’s from that world himself.

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“He’s coming to it with such experience, such honesty, such a story to tell, and he understands this world as a character, the political and social landscape of it all, he writes it, puts it in there, and gives it to us to take and put it on screen.

“I feel very lucky to have had that. Those scripts and the source material that it came from, because it just really enriches it all and fills it with something substantial on screen.”

As well as Rankin, the series also stars Lucie Shorthouse (Line of Duty), Brian Ferguson (The Ipcress File), Amy Manson (The Diplomat), Neshla Caplan (The Rig), Noof Ousellam (Vigil), Stuart Bowman (The Serpent) and Caroline Lee Johnson (Trying), among others.