Rebus returns: Ian Rankin and cast on the new BBC One Series | Memorable TV (2024)

The iconic character of John Rebus is reimagined as a younger Detective Sergeant, played by Richard Rankin, in this brand-new series, airing on Saturday nights on BBC One, based on the best-selling books by Ian Rankin. Rebus finds himself at a psychological crossroads after a violent encounter with gangster Ger Cafferty. He questions his role as a family man and police officer, while his broke, ex-soldier brother Michael struggles to provide for his family. Richard Rankin’s charismatic performance brings the complex and engaging character of Rebus to life, and the series looks set to be a gripping, character-driven crime drama that explores the dark and divided nature of Edinburgh.

Ian Rankin (Author and Executive Producer):

“In the new incarnation, there’s a fascinating focus on Rebus and his brother… During our various conversations early on, Greg Burke zoned in on that almost blood brothers thing or that Jekyll & Hyde thing where you can have two brothers who are close to each other, who love each other, but potentially can destroy each other… At its best, a crime novel is a political novel… A lot of the time it’s to do with people being stuck in a rut. They see no way out that is legal, and their life crumbles around them. So they turn to drugs and drink and that leads them to some very dark places. I think Gregory was interested in tackling some of those issues, and it works really well.”

Rankin highlights the modernisation of the character, set in contemporary times with contemporary issues: “Richard Rankin is not in his 70s or his 60s or his 50s, so they’re getting the quite macho Rebus from the early books, but set in contemporary times… We get the strength of Rebus as a quite gung-ho cop, but set against contemporary problems that people have.”

Gregory Burke (Writer and Executive Producer):

“The number one thing [that drew me to Rebus] was… Rebus is not just a Scottish character; he is actually a character who is a Fifer who lives and works in Edinburgh… [He] inhabits the same kind of psychological landscape and has had the same upbringing as me… This is a detective drama, but at the same time, I thought, ‘Rebus is a character that I can use to write about Scotland in the way I want to write about Scotland.’… It felt like it would be daft not to do it.”

Burke discusses his interest in the divided soul of Rebus: “As a policeman, it is his job to uphold the law. But he’s also a person who is willing to go beyond the law and to do things where the end justifies the means… Rebus occasionally has to show that he understands the rules… [He knows] that criminals live by the rules and that sometimes those criminals need to be reminded that the police know the rules as well as the law.”

Richard Rankin (John Rebus) on his approach to the character:

“Rebus is an iconic character in Scottish literature and television… within the first ten pages of episode one [I] had me absolutely hooked… I could tell Greggory Burke was doing something new and exciting with this… It felt real, it felt dark, and it felt charged… It’s very much a character drama… Dark; cinematic; gritty. It felt like something we were missing on our screens.”

Rankin discusses his focus on authenticity: “The novels are immensely popular… Ian Rankin said to Greg Burke, ‘Take Rebus and do what you want with it.’… Exciting even. Great source material amplified by Greg’s almost uncensored and very honest approach reboots the character in a way that is thrilling for TV.”

Brian Ferguson (Michael Rebus) on the relationship between the brothers:

“I play Michael Rebus, John Rebus’ older brother… This Michael is quite different from the Michael in the books… When we meet them, they’re in a pretty desperate situation… I would say that they have quite an antagonistic relationship, I think this is very familiar, particularly among working-class men. The only way that brothers know how to express their love for each other is through aggression… What really bonds them is this discussion that runs through the series about the difference between the laws and the rules… an eye for an eye and a really basic set of tribal rules.”

Ferguson enjoyed exploring the nuances of the brothers’ relationship: “The heart and the warmth that Richard [Rankin] brings is something that certainly through the series allowed us to find the more nuanced details of their relationship. It also enabled us to discover the care that they actually have for each other. And that felt genuine between us as well. It was a real treat.”

Lucie Shorthouse (Siobhan Clarke) on her character’s relationship with Rebus:

“I love crime detective dramas… Sir Ian Rankin’s novels and… Rebus stretch back for so long. So to be part of something like that was fantastic… They’re seemingly very different in terms of attitudes, approaches, and who they are in life but they work very, very well together… It’s like one of those love-hate, eye-roll relationships. It’s like a family thing where you think, ‘I love you, but I don’t like you. I would do anything for you, but oh my God, you’re annoying!’ It was fun to explore that through the episodes.”

Shorthouse praises her on-screen partner, Richard Rankin: “He’s just great and we’re both clowns on set… Richard has got a natural humour and enjoyment and warmth that he brings to it… He’s really fun to be around, really charismatic, and a great leader as well… I can’t wait for people to see him in this role.”

Amy Manson (Rhona Moncrieffe) on her character’s relationship with Rebus:

“I really loved the script… This script to me read almost like a high-octane thriller or a whodunit… I was really just excited to find out what happened at the end… It’s just brilliant TV drama… [Rhona] wasn’t sidelined as a woman… I needed to understand my character’s purpose within Rebus, and I found joy in the fact that Rhona wasn’t sidelined as a woman… I was just excited to explore that relationship because I also felt on reading it that it wasn’t completely over.”

Manson discusses the complexity of Rebus’ relationships: “I think people relate to [Ian Rankin’s] books because of the character of Rebus, who is as flawed as the next human… He’s wanting to take down the bad guys, but sometimes he has to become the bad guy to do that… I think that’s what’s so relatable about Sir Ian Rankin’s books.”

Stuart Bowman (Ger Cafferty) on his character’s relationship with Rebus:

“I hadn’t read the books, but when I read Greg Burke’s script, it was just tremendous… Something in the text just resonated with me… I lived in Edinburgh for a few years, and there was something very, very familiar about the city that they were both writing about… They are both Fifers and I’m a Fifer… I’m now on book number eight, and I’ve still not stopped!”

Bowman delves into the complex relationship between Cafferty and Rebus: “They have juicy encounters straightaway… without giving anything away, from the outset we see the complexity of their relationship and their love for one another and their hatred for one another… In many ways, I think Cafferty is clearer about his morality than Rebus is and is more comfortable with the choices he’s made.”

Rebus airs on BBC Scotland on Friday nights and BBC One on Saturday nights, the series premieres Friday 17 May on BBC Scotland and Saturday 18 May on BBC One.